When Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco handed the football off and threw swing passes to Ray Rice this spring, he had a close-up view of the three-time Pro Bowl running back's physical transformation.

Rice had regained much of his old quickness, displaying an ability to run away from defenders that all but disappeared during the worst season of his NFL career last year.

Rice has lost roughly 20 pounds since last season, when he weighed as much as 225 pounds while struggling with hip and quadriceps injuries that robbed him of his ability to elude pursuit or break tackles.

"I think we’ve looked really good, and [Rice] has done a great job of pressing, cutting, getting in there and having the explosion afterward," said Flacco. "He’s shown a lot."

At just 26 years old, it was surprising to see Rice's production fall off the way it did, but he was dealing with hip and quad injuries throughout the season. He was also coming off of a Super Bowl run the previous year, which likely wore him down. GM Ozzie Newsome said he expects Rice to return to Pro Bowl form, but HC John Harbaugh said after the season that the team could take more of a committee approach at running back, which would limit Rice's upside. Still, assuming his offseason legal issues don't impact his availability, he is a bounceback candidate in Gary Kubiak's offense.

Why did Baltimore's deep passing game struggle in 2013?

For one, Ravens QB Joe Flacco never appeared to consistently be on the same page with his receivers. The quarterback had far too many ill-advised decisions or imprecise throws and his receivers also dropped their fair share of balls.

Two, the offensive line’s struggles often made Flacco get rid of the ball quicker than he wanted, preventing deep routes from developing. And three, the departure of Anquan Boldin and the injury to Dennis Pitta took away the Ravens’ two primary underneath threats who work the middle of the field. With them not on the field, the defense could roll a safety and focus on not allowing Torrey Smith and Jacoby Jones to get free deep.

But that third issue shouldn’t be a problem this year, not with the addition of Steve L Smith, Owen Daniels and OC Gary Kubiak calling the plays.

“It is definitely [about how you] get the ball out of your hands, because there’s always a route somewhere that you can get the ball out to, and as a quarterback, you have to know when you have a problem and when you have to get it out,” Flacco said last week. “I think that’s the biggest thing with going through your progressions and having a set progression for this, for that. There’s no real guess work, there’s no real gray area, and that allows you to get the ball out real quick.”

Whether it also leads to Flacco reviving his team’s deep passing game remains to be seen but the pieces certainly appear to be in place for the Ravens to improve in that area.

Losing Anquan Boldin to free agency and Dennis Pitta to injury certainly hurt Flacco, who finished #19 after three straight top 14 finishes. Pitta is back, but Boldin is still gone, though the team acquired Steve L Smith to replace him. Expect more low-end QB2 numbers given all the depth at QB. Flacco is a bounce back candidate if things break his way.

Ravens OC Gary Kubiak's unit looked fast-paced and sure of itself in practice. Joe Flacco's command of the new system was apparent. His passing was decisive and sharp. "I think we look pretty good," Flacco said. It was hard to argue. But looking good against an opposing defense is the next challenge.

No player on the Ravens had more on his plate during OTAs and mandatory minicamp than quarterback Joe Flacco, who is at the epicenter of new Offensive Coordinator Gary Kubiak’s system.

When the mandatory minicamp ended Thursday, Flacco was decidedly upbeat about how things have progressed, both individually and collectively.

“Throughout the last couple of weeks, I’ve been able to get really, really comfortable, get back there, go through my reads and have a lot of fun,” Flacco said in a session with reporters. “I feel great. Everything is fresh, new. It’s been enjoyable.”

Losing Anquan Boldin to free agency and Dennis Pitta to injury certainly hurt Flacco, who finished #19 after three straight top 14 finishes. Pitta is back, but Boldin is still gone, though the team acquired Steve L Smith to replace him. Expect more low-end QB2 numbers given all the depth at QB.

Throughout the entire offseason, the Baltimore Ravens have talked about how they believe quarterback Joe Flacco will succeed in Gary Kubiak's offense.

"It’s a timing offense, and to me Joe is really built for that," coach John Harbaugh said.

In Kubiak's new system, Flacco will likely be asked to get the ball out quicker than previous years. Kubiak is teaching Flacco to throw the ball when he hits the ball of his foot on the three-step drop. The West Coast offense is predicated on rhythm and quick releases.

Losing Anquan Boldin to free agency and Dennis Pitta to injury certainly hurt Flacco, who finished #19 after three straight top 14 finishes. Pitta is back, but Boldin is still gone, though the team acquired Steve L Smith to replace him. Expect more low-end QB2 numbers given all the depth at QB.

According to multiple accounts, Ravens QB Joe Flacco looked much more comfortable in last week's OTAs than in the previous two, and there were fewer balls hitting the ground or winding up in the hands of a defender.

Losing Anquan Boldin to free agency and Dennis Pitta to injury certainly hurt Flacco, who finished #19 after three straight top 14 finishes. Pitta is back, but Boldin is still gone, though the team acquired Steve L Smith to replace him. Expect more low-end QB2 numbers given all the depth at QB.

Offensive Coordinator Gary Kubiak said it’s evident that Joe Flacco put in the work with the playbook before Ravens organized team activities (OTAs) began. Kubiak’s said his signal caller is “ahead of the curve.”

“I think he worked his tail off when he was away from me,” Kubiak said after Tuesday’s practice.

“When it was time to go to work, when we could get our hands on him and do those type of things, it was obvious when he came in how hard he had worked and he knew what he was doing. He’s way ahead of the guys from that standpoint.”

The most important first step for Ravens QB Joe Flacco in this new offense actually involves his feet.

"The West Coast offense – more than any offense I’m that familiar with – ties the footwork reads into the reads more than any other one, and it’s very straightforward," coach John Harbaugh said. "It’s very black and white for the quarterback, and that’s what Joe is learning right now."

Flacco shrugged off any concern with the alteration to his footwork.

“It’s all the same footwork,” he said. “It’s just making sure that you tie it into your reads and that you can do it spot on in practice [and] in routes versus the air, so that when things break down a little bit, you’re ready to go, you’re still set and you’re ready to throw.”

Ravens beat writer Mike Preston on QB Joe Flacco's demeanor at OTAs: "Just a hunch here, but it seems as though quarterback Joe Flacco is not having fun, not like a year ago. Maybe it's because he has to learn a new offense and has new assistant coaches around him again... I also think Jersey Joe is struggling a little bit with the foot work in dropping back because his passes have been off. In these OTAs, the foot work is stressed more than just about anything else."

Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ravens/ravens-insider/bal-ravens-ota-...

The Ravens aren't coming off of a Super Bowl win, either, and that will certainly put a damper on the mood at offseason activities. Still, Flacco's progress under new OC Gary Kubiak will determine whether he's a QBBC/streaming candidate early in the season.

Among new Lions head coach Jim Caldwell's most pressing tasks will be fixing QB Matthew Stafford, the promising quarterback who has tumbled into mediocrity the past two years.

At the center of many of his problems is a decline in accuracy, which sank all the way to 58.5 percent last year. That was 30th in the NFL.

"Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely, without question," Caldwell said, when asked if accuracy could be taught. As the story points out, Caldwell has a pretty good resume with QBs: He worked with Peyton Manning for nearly a decade in Indianapolis, and took him to a Super Bowl in 2009, and later rode Baltimore's Joe Flacco to a Super Bowl in 2012. He has a reputation around the league for knowing the fundamentals of the position, and just how to impart them.