The players have been excused from practice this afternoon and meetings in the evening, and they can thank Matt Stover for the sweet freedom.

Coach John Harbaugh told the players he would give them the afternoon and night off if Stover converted a 48-yard field goal during the morning session. With several of his teammates whispering "Stover, Stover," the 40-year-old kicker nailed the 48-yarder.

“John knows how to put pressure on a guy,” said Stover, who was mobbed by his teammates after the kick. “You’ve got to be able to put yourself in those situations as a kicker. There’s nothing that can replicate that other than a game, and that’s as close as you can get. In fact, I think that was worse than kicking a game-winner because you don’t want to let your guys down.”

Stover said he was issued a similar challenge by Bill Belichick when both were with the Cleveland Browns.

"But he would back me up to, like, 60 yards," Stover said. "He would make it really almost impossible for me to make. Did you see the defense? They weren’t rushing very hard, were they? I knew I had all kinds of time. … It’s fun to be able to be a part of that.”

Other observations:

* Kyle Boller got off to a good start, connecting on eight of his first nine passes during full-team drills. But he gave it all back during a one-minute drill when safety Jim Leonhard stepped in front of a Boller pass intended for wide receiver Matt Willis on a slant pattern and took off down the left sidelines.

Troy Smith was worse. He threw a low pass to wide receiver Derrick Mason behind the line of scrimmage, and when Mason couldn't corral the throw, cornerback Corey Ivy pounced on the loose ball. During the one-minute drill, Smith fired a deep post pass to rookie wide receiver Marcus Smith, but free safety Ed Reed made the interception and returned it 40 yards into the end zone. Smith did make amends later by connecting with rookie wide receiver Justin Harper for a touchdown.

Rookie Joe Flacco fared better. Under Flacco, the offense marched down the field during the one-minute drill and scored when he found Mason at the 5-yard line and Mason scampered into the end zone.

* Tempers flared again, but there were no all-out brawls. After a run by Alex Haynes, left guard Ben Grubbs and linebacker Jarret Johnson got into a shoving match. On the ensuing play, Smith and Ivy took shots at each other.

* Stover made three of four field goals, converting attempts of 31, 41 and 48. His 53-yarder slipped wide right. Rookie Piotr Czech was good from 31, 41 and 53 yards, but his 48-yarder caromed off the right upright.