OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- John Harbaugh has never been a big believer in luck, but no one would blame the Baltimore Ravens coach if he checked to see whether Joe Flacco broke a mirror or Terrell Suggs walked under a ladder recently.
Season-ending injuries, a surprise retirement and high-profile quarterback drama have marked the first week of Ravens training camp.
No team has gone through a rougher start to camp this year than the Ravens. Baltimore has become the unofficial home of "Hard Knocks," just without the HBO cameras.
Drama has hit other places like Dallas, where the Cowboys are awaiting Ezekiel Elliott's discipline from the NFL, and Jacksonville, where Blake Bortles threw five interceptions in one practice. There's just no comparison to the first seven days in Baltimore, where the Ravens have endured season-ending injuries to the team's most elusive running back (Kenneth Dixon), a potential starting tight end (Crockett Gillmore) and a rookie fourth-round pick (offensive lineman Nico Siragusa). Baltimore also was caught off guard by the retirement of center John Urschel, the MIT doctoral student who called Harbaugh 2 1/2 hours before the start of the first practice.
If that all weren't enough, Flacco, the one-time Ironman quarterback, hurt his back and hasn't been on the field for one full-team practice. Whom did the team mention signing to help out at quarterback? Only one of the most controversial figures in the NFL -- Colin Kaepernick.
How are the Ravens coping about being in the national spotlight day after news-filled day?
"At this stage of my career, I kind of try to keep my head down and focus on what is in the building," Pro Bowl guard Marshal Yanda said. "I try to tell young guys that you can't be getting caught up in the media every day, because obviously, if you read the media, the sky is falling every day, and we aren't going to survive until tomorrow. No, I tell them to put the blinders on and control what we can control."
The problem is, the way camp is going, players are likely going to hurt themselves walking into a wall if they keep their heads down for too long.
Let's take a look at the past seven days for the Ravens:
On July 25, Dixon undergoes season-ending knee surgery
On July 26, Flacco tells team officials about tightness in his back, just a few hours before the first team meeting of camp
On Thursday, Urschel calls Harbaugh at 6:22 a.m. to announce his retirement, and later Harbaugh brings up the team's interest in Kaepernick
On Friday, Gillmore and nickel back Maurice Canady injure their knees; Gillmore is done for the year and Canady is sidelined indefinitely
On Sunday, Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti asks fans to "pray for us" as the team decides whether to sign Kaepernick
On Tuesday, former first-round pick Breshad Perriman injures a hamstring and two players (Siragusa and wide receiver Quincy Adeboyejo) get carted off the field
"We were talking about it yesterday -- we can't break the news," Flacco said Friday. "It just is what it is. Things happen to guys, guys make decisions, and you just kind of have to roll with it."
Flacco is missing the first training camp practices of his 10-year NFL career. The Ravens' hope is that he'll be back soon.
He's part of a growing injury list that could feature 10 players not practicing Wednesday. That's a sizable chunk of the 90-man roster in the trainer's room.
Harbaugh was asked if he wonders what's going on with the injuries when he gets a few quiet moments at camp.
"I think we're going to be fine," Harbaugh said. "We have a lot of good players. We're going to play football games. We're the Ravens, and we're going to be a really good team. That's how we do it."
Injuries only account for part of the Baltimore's pain these days. Ryan Mallett has struggled filling in for Flacco with the first-team offense, throwing five interceptions during Friday's practice and tossing his white towel in the air after the final pick.
"Hey, Marty [Mornhinweg, the offensive coordinator], tell Mallett to throw to the guys wearing the purple jerseys [aka the offense]," Suggs said during that practice.
The offense's mishaps continued into Tuesday, when tight ends Maxx Williams and Nick Boyle dropped sure touchdown passes, Mallett nearly threw a ball into a lake behind one of the practice fields and Siragusa delivered an errant snap that went off his leg.
"We look like the Bad News Bears out there, [on] offense," safety Eric Weddle shouted to his teammates.
The biggest sign that things aren't going Baltimore's way came on special teams. Justin Tucker, the most accurate kicker in NFL history, missed two field goal attempts in Tuesday's practice.
No team wants to begin training camp this way, much less a team that has failed to make the playoffs in three of the past four seasons. The players, though, are focused on improving in practice and getting one quiet day in camp this year.
"Every day it's news," Weddle said. "What are we doing? Who are we signing? Can't you just let us have fun at practice? It doesn't matter what the outside thinks. It's what we do that matters. But you gotta have a story, and we definitely have a bunch of stories going on."