Mason reports to Ravens' camp
Charles Robinson is now on Twitter. You can follow him at @YahooSportsNFL.
WESTMINSTER, Md. – Baltimore Ravens wideout Derrick Mason(notes) reported to the team Saturday, reversing his decision to retire earlier this offseason. He has asked for reinstatement from the NFL and will play for the Ravens under the terms of his current contract. He is expected to be on the practice field Sunday.
"It makes our team better and I'm sure the players are going to welcome him," Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome said. "I'm very pleased that he made it through the mental things that he was going through and that he decided he wanted to be a member of this football team."
While Mason had previously expressed a hope to negotiate a contract extension with the Ravens, Newsome said terms of Mason's deal were not changed and didn't impact his arrival to camp.
"He decided he wanted to play football," Newsome said.
The arrival is a significant boost for the Ravens, who saw quarterback Joe Flacco develop a comfort zone with Mason last season, seeing Mason catch 80 passes for 1,037 yards and five touchdowns. His presence will once again solidify a receiving corps that appeared to be one of Baltimore's weaknesses when the Ravens headed to training camp without Mason.
Mason's abrupt announcement, made on jocklife.com on July 14, caught the team off-guard. He eventually was forced to file retirement papers with the league or he would have been subject to fines for his late attendance to camp.
