Ravens draw more than 24,000 to practice - Ingles

Ravens fans finally got to see the 2011 version of John Harbaugh's team Saturday and it appears they are turning out in droves.

Joe Flacco received a standing ovation from fans when he came onto the field and Harbaugh said "Man, this is exciting! The guys are excited." He asked for a lot of noise at practice today, according to reports from the sideline.

The event drew 24,078 fans to the stadium, which is an increase from last year's attendance (17,851). Last night's Orioles game had 18,770 fans at Camden yards.

"It was a lot of fun," Harbaugh said. "It was a great environment. Over 24,000 fans … they were loud and they were excited. Guys were excited. It’s one of the better things we do as an organization."

Harbaugh pointed out that the level of enthusiasm tested his players.

"I talked to the team afterwards about communicating," Harbaugh said. "You get in an environment like and you realize it’s tough. We had a lot of distractions by design. It wasn’t just for the fans to have the interviews and the music and all that. It was also a great distraction for our players to overcome the noise level."

Harbaugh added, "I thought at times we handled it OK and at times we didn’t. That’s part of the process in getting ready to play a game. Hopefully that will help us."

With free parking and admission into the stadium for the scheduled three-hour practice, parking lots started to fill at 8 a.m. and roads around the stadium were backed up.

Just five minutes before the Ravens were to take the field at 10 a.m., about half of the lower bowl inside the stadium was filled by fans.

Under cloudy skies with the sun peeking out occasionally, fans were able to "cold" tailgate while waiting for gates to open at 9.

It's the only scheduled practice in front of fans because the Ravens had to cancel training camp at McDaniel College in Westminster with the uncertainty of the NFL lockout. (source Baltimore Sun)