After a statistically down first half of the season, Torrey Smith had one of his better games in Pittsburgh Sunday night and feels he’s taking a better mental approach to the game.

Smith hauled in a 35-yard touchdown from quarterback Joe Flacco early in the first quarter and finished with four catches for 63 yards. It was one of his best games of the year.

“It is a mental thing the way I approach the game, the way I was attentive on the field,” he said. “I was definitely locked in on that. It is a brand new half of the season for me personally and I’m looking forward to making the plays that we need to get it done. And I have to do a lot more.”

Smith has four touchdowns in his last four games. He’s caught 11 passes for 195 yards during that span, which included being shut out in Cincinnati.

Through the first five weeks of the season, Smith was the #62 WR in fantasy football. Over the past four games, he is the #15 WR, gaining 195 yards and catching four touchdowns. That even includes a goose egg against a tough Cincinnati secondary.

Ravens TE Owen Daniels had a "clean-up procedure on his knee and will be out at least one game. Crockett Gillmore expected to start.

There isn’t much opportunity for fantasy owners here, as Crockett Gilmore is more of a blocking tight end. Fullback Kyle Juszczyk may see snaps at tight end as well. It certainly doesn't help QB Joe Flacco, who now has one fewer weapon in the passing game.

In a run-heavy offense that stresses safer passes for quarterback Joe Flacco, Torrey Smith was never a strong bet to repeat last year's production. After leading the team in 2013 with 65 catches and 1,128 receiving yards, though, he's on pace for just 453 yards and 32 grabs in 2014.

"You can't get any closer than we've already been," Torrey said of his chemistry with Flacco, per The Baltimore Sun. "I have folks tweeting me how terrible I am, and I could very easily have had three touchdowns and 300 yards the past couple weeks. That's how the ball rolls. I'm not used to it, but we'll get over it soon. We were as close as you can get to touchdowns. We just have to be on the same page and get it done."

Said Torrey: "It'll happen. It has no choice but to happen. The way we've been practicing, it has no choice but to happen. I can't say when. I hope it's Sunday, but it'll happen soon."

With the focus on Steve L Smith's revenge game against the Panthers, it would be a good time for Flacco to connect on one or two deep balls to Torrey Smith. We're not counting on it, but he's a better player than he's showed in the first three weeks and Dennis Pitta's absence may send a few extra targets his way.

If there was a disconnect on short to intermediate passing routes between Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco and wide receiver Torrey Smith, Flacco said it no longer exists.

Flacco on Tuesday clarified comments he made to CBS broadcaster Solomon Wilcots, who in calling Sunday's game said the quarterback told him Smith needs to continue working on his underneath routes.

“I think most of what I said, what I said during training camp, was that in the past, a lot of those underneath things in the stop routes, on the sideline, things like that, they were the things that we probably struggled with a little bit," Flacco said Tuesday. "But so far this year, they have been incredible. What I believe, what I probably said or was referring to, is Torrey is a 1,000-yard receiver and he’s a 100-catch guy.

"And the thing that’s going to get him to those 100 catches is going to be it’s not going to be running by guys and catching home runs over the top and all the things that he does really, really well, because he has that talent. It’s going to be those little things."

Smith has always had more value in standard formats than PPR formats because he's not particularly adept at the short stuff. Smith averaged 4.06 catches in 2013 and had three in Week 1. To reach the 100-catch mark, he'll need to average 6.47 receptions in the final 15 games. Considering he only saw seven of Flacco's 62 pass attempts in Week 1, we feel that this mark is a long shot. However, Flacco's insistence is encouraging from the standpoint that Smith should be more involved than he was in Week 1.