Last week after practice, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh spent some time talking about how young players today fresh out of the college game aren't as "callused" up as guys used to be entering the league.
"Guys coming out of college right now, they're not as callused up as they used to be," Harbaugh explained after a practice last week (head to the 2:53 mark here to catch his comments).
"We used to practice twice a day in full pads, and those players who played in the National Football League or played in college 15, or 10 years ago...it's not even close to being the same thing. There's a certain type of 'in shape.' There's a certain type of 'football fitness.' There's a certain type of callus-ness in muscles, joints, tendons, ligaments that kind of tighten up. They callus up a little bit and you can practice all day and run all day."
"Our guys coming in right now, most of them don't have that."
As things happen to do in the off season, the comment riled some folks up, and a day after it made its way around social media a bit, Harbaugh clarified by saying "Young people are amazing," and added "My point is we don't need to be babying them. They're tough. They want to be great. Let's not be afraid to push them and bring the best out in them."
Over the weekend, the official Ravens Twitter account shared the following tweet. It's a text that John received from his father, Jack. Of course, Jack is the former longtime college coach with stops at Bowling Green, Iowa, Michigan, Stanford, Western Michigan, Pitt, Western Kentucky, and San Diego.
Safe to say Jack is a fan of what his son had to share.