GAME PREVIEW

Preseason Week 1:
Redskins (0-0) @ Ravens (0-0)

The Redskins open their 2009 preseason schedule with a 35-mile trip north to Baltimore to take on the Ravens on Thursday, Aug. 13 at M&T Bank Stadium. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. ET.

Washington has played one preseason game and one regular season game at M&T Bank Stadium since it opened in 1998.

In 2005 preseason, the Redskins lost to the Ravens 26-20 in overtime on Sept. 1. In the 2008 regular season, the Redskins lost to the Ravens 24-10 on Dec. 7.

M&T Bank Stadium has an artificial surface called SportExe Momentum Turf. The facility seats 71,008.

Last year, the Redskins were 3-2 in preseason games.

For the Redskins, the preseason game at Baltimore is the first of four exhibition contests against the AFC.

The Redskins also host the Pittsburgh Steelers on Aug. 22 and the New England Patriots on Aug. 28. They close out preseason with a road game at Jacksonville on Sept. 3.

Last year, Washington finished at 8-8--including 1-3 against the AFC North--while Baltimore was 11-5.

The Redskins-Ravens game will be televised on NBC-4 and Comcast SportsNet.

On radio, the game will be broadcast locally on ESPN 980.

 PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPS

SERIES HISTORY

The Redskins and Baltimore Ravens have played four times in the preseason, with the series tied at 2-2.

The only preseason matchup in Baltimore was on Sept. 1, 2005, when the Ravens prevailed 26-20 in overtime.

The Redskins and Ravens have played three times at FedExField, the most recent being on Aug. 25, 2007, when the Redskins won 13-7. The game was called early in the third quarter due to an incoming thunderstorm.

The two franchises have played four times in the regular season, with the Ravens holding a 3-1 series lead.

 TALE OF THE TAPE
 

FAMILIAR FACES ON THE RAVENS

Offensive coordinator Cam Cameron was the quarterbacks coach for the Redskins from 1994-96. He helped develop the skills of quarterbacks Trent Green and Gus Frerotte during his tenure in Washington.

Quarterbacks coach Hue Jackson was with the Redskins from 2001-03, serving as running backs coach from 2001-02 and offensive coordinator-running backs coach in 2003.

Secondary coach Mark Carrier played defensive back for the Redskins in 2000.

Assistant strength and conditioning coach John "Mother" Dunn served as head strength and conditioning coach for the Redskins from 2004-05.

Director of college scouting Eric DeCosta had his first NFL experience with a 1995 internship with the Redskins’ player personnel department. 

REDSKINS-RAVENS NEWS & NOTES

-- Rabach Returns to Baltimore

Casey Rabach got his start in Baltimore, the team that drafted him in the third round of the 2001 NFL Draft.

In 2004, the year before he signed with the Redskins, Rabach started 15 games at center and one at left guard for the Ravens.

The 6-1, 305-pounder had paved the way for Jamal Lewis’s third consecutive 1,000-yard rushing season in 2004 and helped the Ravens’ offense compile more than 2,000 rushing yards on the season.

At the  time, the Ravens were committed to Mike Flynn as their long-term answer at center, though.

"I knew the day was coming when I would leave," Rabach said after signing with the Redsins. "[The Ravens] had their starting center up there and they made that clear when they signed Mike back. There are no ill feelings toward them. It was just time to move on.

"What a great feeling it was to come down here to Washington. Everything kind of fell into place."

Since joining the Redskins, Rabach has missed just one game. He has helped solidify a veteran offensive line.

Flynn has since moved on from the Ravens. He was with New England in preseason earlier this year.

-- Randle El and Cam Cameron

From 1997-2001, Ravens offensive coordinator Cam Cameron was head coach at Indiana University. He recruited and developed then-quarterback Antwaan Randle El, now a Redskins wide receiver.

"Antwaan was a great high school football quarterback," Cameron said in a 2007 interview when he was head coach of the Miami Dolphins. "Some people just didn’t want to take a chance on him [at quarterback], but we knew he was a quarterback."

Added Randle El: "Cam gave me an opportunity. He was a coach, and then after that he was more of a friend.

"Not many college teams were willing to let me play quarterback. He was the only one who I felt I could truly trust would allow me to play quarterback."

-- Landry Brothers

The Landry brothers--Redskins’ LaRon and Ravens’ Dawan--had hoped to play against each other in an NFL regular season game for the first time last year.

But Dawan suffered a neck injury earlier in the season. He was eventually placed on injured reserve.

LaRon was the Redskins’ first-round draft pick in 2007. Dawan Landry was the Ravens’ fifth-round draft pick in 2006.

Last year, LaRon’s second as a starter in the Redskins’ secondary, he recorded 65 tackles, a half-sack, two interceptions and eight passes defended.

One of his interceptions was off Ravens’ quarterback Joe Flacco in the Dec. 7 game at M&T Bank Stadium.

-- Maryland Connections

Offensive tackles Stephon Heyer for the Redskins and Jared Gaither of the Ravens were teammates at the University of Maryland from 2004-06.

Heyer joined Washington as an undrafted rookie and started three games at right tackle earlier this season,

Gaither joined the Redskins as a fifth-round selection in the NFL’s Supplemental Draft in 2007. He has started 11-of-12 games at left tackle for the Ravens this season.

-- What’s Next?

The Redskins host their 2009 preseason home opener on Saturday, Aug. 22 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. ET at FedExField.