John Harbaugh gives his team a break

The Baltimore Sun recently wrote a piece about the fact that the Raven's haven't had a Monday off since the season started. As they say in the story, most teams are given Mondays off if they win their game that weekend. It takes guts for a rookie head coach like John Harbaugh to tell his team that they have to change tradition and work through their usual weekly break. It is those kind of guts that have gotten the Ravens to the position they're in today. The team needed to work through its hiccups, growing pains, and infamiliararity with each other.

That said, it is time to start going easier on the players. The 2008 season is now more than half over and there are plenty of bruises/injuries in the Ravens locker room. Harbaugh gave the team their first Monday off this week and he should continue to do so. He now has to walk the line of keeping his team fired up, prepared and rested all at once.