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Sean Payton: Ravens' OTA sanction isn't a big deal

Rob Foldy / Getty Images Sport / Getty

The Baltimore Ravens were forced to forfeit one week of OTAs for allowing their rookies to practice in full pads during minicamp.

This, presumably, is a major hindrance for Baltimore as they try to prepare for the upcoming season under NFL's already stringent rules regarding offseason practice time.

New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton, however, said Friday on "PFT Live" that he doesn't think the sanctions will affect the Ravens too much.

"I don't think it's a big deal," Payton said, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. "The reason I say that is, look, it doesn't keep the players from lifting and running and so a week of OTAs would be three on-the-field sessions. You don't want to lose those opportunities and, shoot, one of those opportunities you might have some type of team building experience set up. I think each team does similar things during the OTAs. There's a lot of offense versus defense. There's some restrictions regarding one-on-ones but the players are out there in their element, and they're going though a little bit of a practice format for two hours. So really that equates to about six hours on the field."

Payton's views are surprising, given that the assumption is that head coaches prize every second of practice they have with their players.

However, it appears with the reality of what teams are allowed to do at this point of the offseason by the league, the time lost shouldn't derail the Ravens' preparations, as they attempt to bounce back from a 5-11 season and their first time missing the playoffs since 2007.

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