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The Ravens won’t waste any time getting T.J. Houshmandzadeh on the football field, as he is expected to play in their season opener against the New York Jets.
Hours after he was acquired off the open market, Houshmandzadeh will take a red-eye flight from Seattle to Baltimore Monday night and then have a physical on Tuesday. He begins practice with his new team this week.
“T.J will definitely be ready to go by Week 1,” said Head Coach John Harbaugh. “He’ll be in here tonight, physical tomorrow morning, and he’ll start working on the playbook tomorrow. He’s been in the system before, and that’s a plus.”
There will be some familiar faces in Baltimore for Houshmandzadeh, who tallied 79 receptions for 911 yards and three touchdowns in 2009.
Cornerback Josh Wilson, a teammate of Houshmandzadeh’s last year with the Seattle Seahawks, joined the Ravens last week.
Wilson covered “Housh” every day in practice during their tenure together and believes the Ravens got a steal.
“He brings big-play ability,” said Wilson. “There’s a difference between guys that look the part and don’t deliver and the players that might not have the size, speed or something, but they’re football players.
“Nobody can understand how they’re so good, but they know how to play football. That’s T.J.”
Some have questioned whether Houshmandzadeh’s addition gives the Ravens another possession receiver and the trade of Mark Clayton to the St. Louis Rams robs them of a deep threat.
Harbaugh disagreed with that sentiment. He is comfortable with Anquan Boldin, Derrick Mason and Houshmandzadeh leading Baltimore’s passing attack.
“You know how you stretch the field? You run deep. They’ve got to cover you – especially when you have guys running down the field that can catch the ball”, said Harbaugh. “You run deep and you throw it to them. If they don’t cover them, they’ll catch the ball and they’ll score.
“So, I guess what I’m saying is I think it’s a little overblown. You put good players on the field and they’re threats.”
