Ray Rice has said that the Baltimore Ravens still need to improve before the start of the 2013 NFL season.

The running back had eight carries during the Super Bowl champions' 27-23 win over the Atlanta Falcons yesterday evening.

The 26-year-old told the Ravens' website: "You're calling them struggles. I'm calling them pre-season work. If you don't have things to work on in the pre-season, then obviously you're the greatest team in mankind.

"We definitely need to get better, but it's the pre-season. All 32 teams are working on things. Nobody goes in with a magical game plan, you know, like we're going to run guys over."

Quarterback Joe Flacco added: "We're not going to overreact to something like this and get all crazy and things like that. We've been through this. We feel like we've had a great camp and we're continuing to get better."

The Ravens face the Denver Broncos in the opening week of the season.