Boller Plays Student, Teacher

Ravens Backup QB Prepares as if He's Still Starting

Quarterback Kyle Boller, above, has been watching new starter Steve McNair, while using his experience to help teammates on offense. (By Chris Gardner -- Associated Press)

OWINGS MILLS, Md., Aug. 30 -- A group of newspaper reporters and television cameras surrounded the starting quarterback of the Baltimore Ravens on Monday afternoon and peppered him with questions about the team's struggling offense.

Kyle Boller had seen this situation many times. But this time, he wasn't living through it; he was watching it from the opposite side of the Ravens' locker room. He stood on his stool and waved at the man in the middle of the pack, the man who took his job in the offseason, veteran Steve McNair.

There is no question Boller is frustrated about losing his job, particularly one that he has held since he entered the league in 2003. But he is trying to handle the situation the best way he can, which means preparing as if he were still the starter.

"People in normal jobs, in normal society, you can be ticked off and pout all you want," offensive coordinator Jim Fassel said. "But not in our profession, because it's hard to find anybody on this team that hasn't had that happen to him at some point. How you handle it, that's part of being a professional football player. There's going to be setbacks. Honestly, I told him, this will define your future, because people will find out if you're mentally tough."

If anything, Boller seems looser and more relaxed this season. Earlier in the week, the player with the matinee idol face -- he was once linked romantically with starlet Tara Reid -- sported a scruffy beard, which he then shaved into a handlebar mustache and then into a regular mustache, the latter two looks drawing a healthy share of ridicule from his teammates.

"You're definitely not under the microscope as much," said Boller, who is now clean-shaven. "I don't have to come in after a game and find you all waiting [at his locker]. I just feel more comfortable out there. I still have a lot of learning to do; it's only my fourth year. I have a long ways to go in that respect. But I feel like I've made strides."

Boller's physical toughness was one of the few things that was never questioned during his past three seasons as the starter. Nearly every other part of his game has been dissected and criticized since the Ravens made him the 19th overall pick in the 2003 draft. In 36 games for Baltimore, Boller has thrown more interceptions (32) than touchdown passes (31). He is 18-16 as a starter but has yet to lead the Ravens to the playoffs.

Boller has been solid in the preseason, completing 62.5 percent of his passes (25 for 40), and he is responsible for the Ravens' only touchdown pass thus far. The most significant thing he's done is cut down on his turnovers; he has yet to throw an interception or fumble the ball, two things that plagued him last year.

He says he is preparing as if he is the starter, because he knows firsthand how quickly a backup can be thrust into the game. Boller injured his toe in the first half of the 2005 season opener , and he missed seven games. McNair, who hasn't played a full season since 2002, missed a total of 12 games over the past three years because of injury.

Boller is trying to pick up whatever he can from McNair, a three-time Pro Bowl selection and former league co-MVP. He watches how McNair approaches the game, everything from how he leads to how he responds to turnovers. Just seeing how calm the 11-year veteran is on the field, even when the pocket is collapsing around him, has helped Boller.

"Sometimes you could look back and be like, 'Maybe it would've been cool if he came in my first year,' " Boller said. "I can learn a lot from him."

Boller is trying to help his teammates. Now that he's no longer taking the starter's reps in practice, he has more time to spend with some of the receivers, and he can share some of the things that he's picked up over the past three seasons. Boller stayed on the field after practice on Tuesday to work with fullback Ovie Mughelli on a particular route, giving him tips on his approach and how to read the defense.

"Now I'm able to become more of a coach on the field," Boller said. "I think the best learning tool is when you teach it. Whenever you have to teach somebody else, then you really have to know it."

Said Mughelli, who was part of the same 2003 draft class as Boller: "If you're going to play a team sport, you have to be a team player. He could've handled himself a lot differently. There could've been a lot of drama; there could've been a lot of backbiting with him walking around angry all the time. In some programs, I know this has occurred. But here, he hasn't distracted the team; he hasn't done anything to take focus away from our ultimate goal, which is winning. He should be commended for that."