Ravens' Harbaugh takes responsibility for offseason workout violation

The Baltimore Ravens paid the price for an apparent misunderstanding of the NFL's offseason workout rules.

The Ravens allowed their rookies to practice in full pads in minicamp - a violation of the league's CBA - and were docked one week of OTAs as punishment.

Head coach John Harbaugh informed his players of the sanction Thursday, and took responsibility for the mistake.

"There’s not one player or one coach in this room that should worry about it for one second," Harbaugh said, according to Jacob Feldman of SI.com. "You shouldn't have any anxiety about it because it's on me. It was my decision. It was my effort, and that’s the situation that we are in. We’ll adjust and adapt and we’ll still become the best football team we can be."

Harbaugh explained that he believed he'd found a loophole in the CBA, which would allow the Ravens to gain extra time preparing their rookie class for the upcoming season.

"The CBA - the way it’s written, word for word, we've read it all," Harbaugh said. "There are side letters and there are amendments to side letters. There are the handbook and things that are added to the handbook regularly that come out in memos, and there are things that you look at it where you say, 'You know what, I think we have an opportunity here to gain some ground with our rookies.' It wasn't the case, it was wrong. I read it the wrong way, and it's on me."