<
>

No zero tolerance policy for Ravens

PHOENIX -- Coach John Harbaugh said Tuesday that he isn't frustrated by the Baltimore Ravens' three arrests this offseason.

"You're making too much of it," Harbaugh said at a breakfast session with reporters during the owners meetings. "It was a guy [nose tackle Terrence Cody] who was already gone and it was a guy [cornerback Victor Hampton] who never stepped foot in the building."

Cody was two months from becoming a free agent before he was indicted on animal cruelty charges, and Hampton had never attended a practice or meeting with the Ravens before getting arrested for drunken driving. Running back Bernard Pierce, who was released after his arrest for drunken driving, was the only player who had a shot at making this year's team.

Harbaugh reiterated that the Ravens don't have a zero-tolerance policy even though all three players were cut within a day of the team learning of their incidents.

"I don't know any organization in the world that has that rule," Harbaugh said.

Nine members of the Ravens organization have been arrested over the last 13 months. Harbaugh said the team uses "common sense and fairness" to determine what's best for the franchise.

"You try to do what's best for everybody concerned as best you can," Harbaugh said.

Asked if the players have received the message after those three players were released, Harbaugh said, "I haven't given that much thought. I think they're grown men. They will draw from it what they will. That's as it should be."