Agent Drew Rosenhaus says his client, Jared Gaither, has made a full recovery. The 6-foot-9, 340-pound offensive tackle missed all last season for the Ravens with an upper back injury. "Jared Gaither's back is totally healed," Rosenhaus tweeted Saturday. "He's had a great offseason and will have a bounce back yr. He's back to full strength & ready to go." "Basically, I'm cleared," Gaither confirmed to the Carroll County Times. "I just have to be cleared by the ballclub and take that physical. I'm doing a lot better. I'm feeling great. I can't wait for next season."

Former Ravens kicker Matt Stover announced his retirement Thursday, ending a career that spanned two decades in the NFL. A one-time Pro Bowl selection who provided much of the offense for the Ravens' Super Bowl championship team in 2000, Stover leaves the NFL as the fourth-ranked scorer in the league's history with 2,004 points and 471 field goals. He is the Ravens' all-time leading scorer with 1,464 points. "No regrets," the 43-year-old kicker said during a news conference at the Ravens' training complex. "I gave it all I had. I can look back at that and say I did all I could to be everything I could be."

Long-time NFL kicker Matt Stover will retire after a career in which he scored more than 2,000 points. The Ravens say Stover will make the announcement on Thursday afternoon at Baltimore's training complex. Stover, 43, ranks fourth in NFL history with 2,004 points.

Tom Zbikowski is hanging up his boxing gloves so he can "transition back to football." The Ravens safety has pulled out of his June 4 fight against Mike Howell at the Staples Center so he can join his teammates for informal workouts during the lockout. "It was time to start the transition back to football," Zbikowski told the Los Angeles Times in a text message. "My teammates are starting to organize some workouts, so it's just time to head back (to Baltimore). Wish I had more time to do both." Zbikowski was 3-0 in his return to the boxing ring during the NFL's work stoppage.

Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis said in a wide-ranging interview with ESPN that there will be consequences if the NFL season is lost. "Do this research if we don't have a season -- watch how much evil, which we call crime, watch how much crime picks up, if you take away our game," Lewis said. That's because, Lewis said, the NFL lockout affects "way more than us" -- the owners and the players. "There's too many people that live through us, people live through us," he said. "Yeah, walk in the streets, the way I walk the streets, and I'm not talking about the people you see all the time." Sunday is Day 68 of the lockout, which is now the longest work stoppage in NFL history.

If Marc Bulger leaves the Ravens as a free agent, the team will then be in the market for a backup to starting quarterback Joe Flacco. Washington's Donovan McNabb might be able to fill the void. The Baltimore Sun writes that the possibility shouldn't be ruled out, although Flacco and McNabb would have to check their egos at the door. The market for McNabb appears to be drying up and his time in Washington is considered over. Ravens coach John Harbaugh was on Andy Reid's staff in Philadelphia for 10 years, but it is unknown how close he was with McNabb.

Ravens veteran wide receiver Derrick Mason is putting together a plan for informal workouts. Several players will join Mason for offseason workouts, training and conditioning at Towson University on May 24-26. At least 20 Ravens players and possibly as many as 25 are expected to attend the workouts.

Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome expects quarterback Joe Flacco to control more of the team's offense next season. "I think he's more than ready to do it," Newsome said. "As we move forward this year, this will become Joe's offense. It won't be [coordinator Cam Cameron's] offense, it will be Joe's offense. "Cam may call the plays, but I think Joe's going to have more of an opportunity to change some things. This has to be Joe's offense." Last season, Flacco registered career-high numbers with 3,622 yards and 25 touchdown passes.

Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis didn't take long to welcome the newest member of his defensive backfield. Baltimore drafted Colorado cornerback Jimmy Smith in the first round of last week's NFL Draft. "He just told me I'm welcome here with open arms, and hopefully we can get together and talk and kind of just let me know, you know, that he's 'Ray-Ray,'" Smith said in his introductory press conference. "I'm just honored to be on a team with Ray and this defense." It's going to take a close relationship with veterans like Lewis to bring the rookies up to speed if the NFL continues the lockout this offseason. "I don't know if it was such a surprise because everyone knows this is his defense, so I think he'll have something to say," Smith added. "For me, it's just an honor. I'm just really happy that I'm playing for the Ravens. When you think about the Ravens, you think about defense. "Being a defensive player, I'm just really excited about it."

NFL football agent Joe Linta has accepted the head coaching position at Hamden Hall, a private high school in Connecticut, according to an ESPN.com report A coach at Yale for eight years, Linta not only will work with ninth through 12th graders now, but he'll coach his sons Nick, a wide receiver, and T.J., a quarterback.