Ravens OC Defends Starting Guard After Struggles

Despite Faalele's rough outing, offensive coordinator Todd Monken made it very clear that he still believes in his guard.

"I'm so proud of Daniel," Monken told reporters Tuesday. "He worked hard in the offseason [and] came in [to camp] in great shape. I think I was talking earlier that we're excited for Daniel. He's come a long way. He is a really, really good football player.

"In today's day and age, shock value, whatever's seen for one shot on the Internet doesn't make a man, or a great play doesn't make a man. As I was saying earlier, we were talking like if the Internet posts someone walking into church, it doesn't make him a great Christian. It just means they walked into church. They picked out one clip of it. That's not Daniel. Daniel's been outstanding throughout all of camp and has played his rear end off, and we're excited where he is at now and where he is going to continue to grow."

Faalele, 25, was one of the NFL's heaviest players last season at 380 pounds, but lost about 20 pounds over the offseason. Monken and the Ravens hope that him slimming down a bit will allow him to move more effectively and address one of his biggest weaknesses from last season.

More than anything, though, Monken wants to make it abundantly clear that the online criticism does not affect his view of Faalele in any way.

"Well, first of all, I don't respond to it," Monken said. "I'm not naive to seeing those things, but it was one play. That was one example. I can't imagine any of us [having] one example of something in our life, and that's who they are. That's the silliest [stuff] I've ever heard in my life. It's just the way it is. It is the world we live in, right?"