With final roster cuts a week away and attempting to add depth to one of their most inexperienced positions, the Ravens signed veteran inside linebacker Paul Worrilow Friday.
The 29-year-old has started 52 games in his NFL career, but he missed the entire 2018 season with a torn ACL, an injury from which he’s been slow to recover. Philadelphia released Worrilow last weekend after he’d only practiced on a limited basis this summer and hadn’t yet appeared in a preseason game.
Worrilow will have a week to prove he is both healthy and deserving of being the Ravens’ fourth inside linebacker behind starters Patrick Onwuasor and Chris Board and 2018 fourth-round pick Kenny Young. Rookie free agent Otaro Alaka has been the consensus favorite to win a 53-man roster spot if general manager Eric DeCosta and John Harbaugh choose to keep a fourth player at the position. Board has been sidelined since sustaining a concussion in the second preseason game last week.
An undrafted free agent out of Delaware in 2013, Worrilow almost immediately became a three-year starter for Atlanta and registered at least 95 tackles in each of those seasons. He moved into a reserve role for the Falcons in 2016 before signing with Detroit a year later, making 30 tackles and starting eight of 13 games.
His contributions on special teams are likely to be valued more than his ability at linebacker since the Ravens would prefer to limit Onwuasor’s responsibilities as he steps into a large defensive role. Worrilow played at least 229 snaps on special teams in each of his last two healthy seasons.
