Even though Ray Rice carried the ball only 10 times in the opening week, he says he is comfortable with his role on the team. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

The Baltimore Ravens are taking a departure from years past where they won with a bruising running game and playing suffocating defense.

Now that Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco is engineering a no-huddle offense, running back Ray Rice says he is fine with his new role.

“Coming into this year, it was Joe Flacco’s offense,” Rice told the Baltimore Sun. ”It starts with him, and we just follow his lead.”

Flacco had 29 passing attempts for 299 yards and two touchdowns in the Monday night victory against Cincinnati and Rice carried the ball 10 times for 68 yards and caught three passes for 25 yards.

“My role is never changing. My role is actually making other guys better,” Rice said. ”When teams come in and they forget about me, I have the capability of lighting them up. What we’re doing right now, other guys — not that they’ve never stepped up — they’re just making the plays that they’ve always been capable of making. When you have me in the game, they have to respect it.”

The Baltimore Ravens and running back Ray Rice agreed to a new contract shortly before Monday’s deadline for franchise players to sign long-term deals, according to multiple reports on Twitter.

The Ravens just signed Ray Rice to a multiyear deal.

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Peter King (@SI_PeterKing) July 16, 2012

Ray Rice's deal with the Ravens is for 5 years. Huge for Baltimore, frees up franchise tag for '13, with Flacco and Reed in contract years.

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Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) July 16, 2012

Ray Rice signed a five-year, $40 million contract that includes $17 million in year one and $25 million in the first two years.

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Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 16, 2012

The deal locks in one of the league’s top running backs for the long term and gives Baltimore additional flexibility in the future.

Rice, 25, has had more than 2,000 yards from scrimmage in two of his four years in the NFL. Last season, he rushed 1,364 yards and 12 touchdowns. He also had 704 yards and three touchdowns receiving.

Ray Rice said he’s “optimistic” about agreeing to a contract extension with the Baltimore Ravens before Monday’s deadline. (Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

Ray Rice said Friday that he’s “always optimistic” about agreeing to a long-term contract extension with the Baltimore Ravens that would take the franchise-tag label off the star running back, The Baltimore Sun’s Jeff Zrebiec reported.

“I’m always optimistic,” Rice said while playing host to ”A Ray of Hope,” an anti-bullying teen suicide outreach event at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia. “God has put me in a position where not too many people can say they’ve been. I never played for the dollars and all of that other stuff. My rookie contract, quite frankly, you just signed it and go play football so this is a little bit difference of an experience for me.”

Zrebiec noted, though, that there have been no reports of progress between Rice and the Ravens on an extension. The deadline for teams to sign franchise players to a long-term contract is Monday at 4 p.m. ET. If Rice doesn’t agree to an extension, he will be forced to play under the one-year franchise tender of $7.7 million.

The 25-year-old Rice has become one of the best running backs in the NFL during his four years in the league. Last season, he rushed for 1,364 yards on 293 carries — a 4.7 yards-per-carry average. He added 704 receiving yards, and he had 15 total touchdowns.

Despite an unsettled contract situation with the team, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco reported for voluntary workouts Monday, according to the team’s official twitter account.

#Ravens QB Joe Flacco is at the team's voluntary strength and conditioning program

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Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) April 16, 2012

Back in March at the NFL Annual Meeting in New Orleans, Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti told the Baltimore Sun that he envisions a new contract for Flacco before his contract expires after the 2012 season.  No deal has been settled on yet.

Ray Rice, who is also in the midst of negotiating a long-term contract, chose not to report for voluntary workouts Monday despite having the franchise tag applied to him.  Among the first players to report for the workouts was cornerback Lardarius Webb, who recently signed a six-year, $50 million deal with the team.

The Baltimore Ravens intend to franchise tag running back Ray Rice, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Ravens plan to place their franchise tag on running back Ray Rice today.

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Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 02, 2012

It was expected that Baltimore would give Rice the franchise tag in order to open up negotiations over the coming year about a potential long term deal. The 25-year-old is slotted to become an unrestricted free-agent next season.

Rice indicated earlier this month that he would like his next deal to be similar to the seven-year, $100 million contract running back Adrian Peterson signed with the Minnesota Vikings last year, according to Sports Illustrated’s Peter King. 

Last season Rice ran for 1,364 yards and 12 touchdowns. He also hauled in 76 passes for 704 yards and three touchdowns through the air. It marked the third consecutive season that Rice has ran for 1,200 or more yards and caught 60-or-more passes.

In the three-years prior to signing his $100 million deal, Peterson averaged 1,480 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns.

Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice would like his next deal to be similar to the seven-year, $100 million contract running back Adrian Peterson signed with the Minnesota Vikings last year, according to Sports Illustrated’s Peter King. 

Rice, 25, is likely to be given a franchise tag by the Ravens this month in order to keep him from becoming an unrestricted free-agent. That would open up negotiations over the course of next season on a possible long-term deal for the Pro Bowl running back.

Last season Rice ran for 1,364 yards and 12 touchdowns. He also hauled in 76 passes for 704 yards and three touchdowns through the air. It marked the third consecutive season that Rice has ran for 1,200 or more yards and caught 60-or-more passes.

In the three-years prior to signing his $100 million deal, Peterson averaged 1,480 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns.

Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice and outside linebacker Terrell Suggs will not be participating in the Pro Bowl game this Sunday, according to a  tweet from the Baltimore Ravens.

#Ravens RB Ray Rice and OLB Terrell Suggs are not participating in the Pro Bowl. Suggs is due to injury

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Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) January 24, 2012

Suggs, who had 70 tackles and two  interceptions this season, will not be participating as a result of an injury obtained in the AFC Championship game. It is unclear why Rice, who had 291 attempts earning 1,364 yards and scoring 12 touchdowns, will not participate in the game.

The Ravens, who finished the season 12-4-0, falling short of a chance at a Super Bowl berth had eight players selected to participate in the game this Sunday in Honolulu; LB Ray Lewis, S Ed Reed, OLB Terrell Suggs, DT Haloti Ngata, RB Ray Rice, FB Vonta Leach, G Marshal Yanda and G Ben Grubbs.