It may have been Cinco de Mayo, but it felt more like Ocho de Octubre.The stridency and urgency the Ravens' coaches were showing on the practice field -- during the annual two-day rookie camp, no less -- were done with midseason intensity under warm offseason sunshine at the team's Owings Mills training complex last weekend.

Receivers coach Mike Johnson wanted pass routes run correctly and with the required shoulder and torso position. Defensive coordinator Rex Ryan was stressing coverage technique and head coach Brian Billick wanted to see how his offense would react to the omnipresent cover-2 defense.

"(I was surprised by) the amount of plays that were installed," first-round guard Ben Grubbs said. "That was new to me. Back at Auburn, we took baby steps. Right now, we're all grown up here and we're jumping right into the fire. That was new to me, but I did well."

The coaches are hoping that more settled skill positions and last year's AFC North Division championship and subsequent playoff run will raise the level of everyone who ends up playing for this team, including the rookies.

The number of plays already installed into the offense in just one session made for some worn-out newcomers among the seven drafted players, the 16 undrafted free agents and the half-dozen tryout bodies in attendance.

"They found the chow line, and they know where to go to the bathroom, so we're ahead of the curve there," Billick said. "That's what these two days are about; it's about getting comfortable with their circumstances. When they come back in the middle of May, they can move forward."

The rookie camp is the first of six organized team activities -- sorry, not "minicamps" -- scheduled by the Ravens. Two more rookie-oriented skull sessions are set for May 16-18 and May 21-23.

After that, the rest of the team comes in for the May 30-June 1 session, the mandatory June 5-7 camp and the June 12-14 drills before everyone reports to training camp July 29 at McDaniel College in Westminster.

"It's about broad-based concepts," Billick said. "They'll just get a sense of what we're doing, then spend the next week and a half getting into the playbook a little bit. Two weeks of (passing camp) to get into it and then three weeks of team camp, it gets more serious. It goes in stages.

"We have an accelerated starting point from where we were last year. We know what we have by way of some of the moving parts. The quarterback position, the third wide receiver, there were some things we didn't know that we do now that allows you to accelerate what you're going to do during the season."

Steve McNair, Demetrius Williams and the rest of the veterans to whom Billick referred won't be participating in organized team activities (OTAs) until next month, but their exploits are well-known among the rookie crop.

Before speaking to a group of reporters, fourth-round linebacker Antwan Barnes was watching a DVD of the team's 2006 highlight film -- "Defenders Of The North" -- on his computer.

It wasn't the first time he had researched his new employers.

"When I was drafted, I went online and found out what I could about the (Ravens') history," Barnes said. "How the Ravens started, who was on the team, what positions they played, everything I could. I wanted to get caught up about everything."

Barnes' early career path is taking a route similar to that of the now-retired franchise sack leader, Peter Boulware.

They both went to college in Florida -- Boulware at Florida State, Barnes at Florida International -- and they both are trying to adjust from being pointed toward the quarterback to dropping back in coverage.

It's an adjustment that takes time to learn, as Barnes found out during a couple of wayward plays in practice. But he is willing to learn because the volume of the coaches in his ear tells him that it's mandatory he gets this right.

"I don't want to do everything at once," Barnes said. "I'm just trying to come in and slow everything down, not trying to do too much. I just want to do what I can."

It will be a bit easier for Barnes and other drafted players, but the undrafted free agents have to do more to catch the coaches' eye.

Despite the Ravens' propensity for finding diamonds in the rough -- see Bart Scott, Priest Holmes, Will Demps and Dawan Landry, among others -- most of the players in camp will find it tough to make a roster where most positions are rich in depth.

Even though most spots are spoken for, possible openings include quarterback, where the Ravens played with just two on the active roster all last year. Also, the Ravens ended the regular season with just three tight ends and three safeties, two more units that could use some replenishment.

But for now, Billick simply wants to know what he has on the bottom of a roster that now numbers 83 players.

"(The lack of jobs) is not something to focus on," Billick said. "Uncomfortable as I am with it, (cutting players is) one of the jobs I don't like. But when it comes time, I'll cut 'em, so they'd better learn not to cut themselves.

"They'll be told when they're no longer a part of this team, so for them to do that prematurely on their own, all they have to do is look around. There's a fifth-round draft choice in (safety) Dawan Landry, an undrafted free agent in Bart Scott. There's example after example, so don't pre-judge where you're going to end up on this team, because you'll cut yourself short."

The Ravens' efforts to acclimate some of last year's rookies was cut short due to a rule that prohibits seniors -- not fifth-year guys, but those that graduate in the expected four -- at certain schools from working out with their drafted teams until they have graduated.

That rule slowed the development of two of last year's draft picks from Oregon, first-round nose guard Haloti Ngata and fourth-round speedster Demetrius Williams.

Ohio State is another school that conforms to the statute, but fifth-round quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith was a fifth-year senior, having redshirted in his true freshman season of 2002.

On the whole, the Ravens won't have many worries in that department this time around.

"Last year, that hit us pretty good. But I think we're in pretty good shape this year," Billick said.

As for Troy Smith, the most high-profile member of the Ravens' seven-man draft class, his Heisman status may be new to the Ravens and their star-struck fan base. However, it's not new to Billick, whose previous employers -- the Minnesota Vikings -- drafted a Heisman-winning quarterback of their own in the seventh round of the 1993 draft.

Gino Torretta did not have a successful pro career, and instead ended up in the ESPN college football broadcast booth. Many Heisman winners -- including recent honorees Eric Crouch and Jason White -- barely even see an NFL field.

"I don't know what that phenomenon's about," Billick said. "Even though you are drafted at that point, there are those expectations that come with it. I'll leave it to someone smarter than me to figure out why that's happened, but you have to be very careful not to pre-judge.

"(With Troy Smith), you can see the athleticism, but there's a huge amount of thinking process. It's as much about us getting comfortable with him as he is with us. You have to get used to what he does and hold him to that standard."

Billick stresses that at this point all rookies have a chance to make the team.

"I don't know that I'm the one to use as an example," Billick said. "If you ever doubt that you can do this, just look at this other guy -- a fifth-round choice like Dawan Landry, an undrafted free agent like Bart Scott -- and know that this is doable."

That's exactly what Barnes and third-round receiver/returner Yamon Figurs have been doing.

With little special teams work being done during the two-day rookie camp, Figurs has been getting the work at wideout he has craved. Known for his return prowess, he caught only 73 passes in three years at Kansas State.

"They expect me to perform right away," Figurs said. "(They expect me to) do my job, learn the playbook and do whatever it takes to get on the field. It was exciting and fun. It's something you've wanted to do your whole life and now you can. I can't believe it."

As for third-round offensive lineman Marshal Yanda, there seemed to be no ambiguity about what the coaches expect from him. Billed as a guard who can also play tackle, he was assigned directly to the right tackle spot next to right guard Grubbs during the perfunctory half-speed skeleton drills.

"I'm coming in with an open mind," Yanda said. "It really doesn't matter if I play left guard, right guard, tackle or center. Wherever they want me to play, it's up to the team. "I'm a team guy. I don't come in here saying, 'Hey, I want to play guard.' I want to play wherever the Ravens want me to play."

***

As usual, the Ravens' undrafted free-agent list leans heavily toward big-school alums. One of the few who isn't is North Carolina Central running back Greg Pruitt Jr., son of the famed Cleveland Browns back of the 1970s.

The younger Pruitt is a 5-foot-9, 210-pounder, a bit smaller than his bruising father, who racked up seven 1,000-yard rushing seasons and six Pro Bowls in a Browns career that began with his second-round selection by Cleveland in 1973. He left the Browns after the 1984 campaign.

Another small-school signee is Central Michigan wideout Damien Linson. The 5-foot-10, 186-pounder was a teammate of standout tackle Joe Staley, who was taken by San Francisco in the first round, just one selection ahead of Baltimore.

Gilman School and Notre Dame graduate Victor Abiamiri was taken by Philadelphia in the draft, but the Ravens inked a pair of Fighting Irish products, defensive end Travis Leitko and tight end Marcus Freeman.

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