Ravens defensive end Brent Urban practiced on Monday for the first time since suffering a biceps injury in early August.
Returning from the Week 9 bye, the team announced the 2014 fourth-round pick has returned to practice after beginning the regular season on injured reserve with the designation to return. Urban now enters a 21-day practice window in which the Ravens may elevate him to the 53-man roster at any point or leave him on IR for the remainder of the season if deemed unable to return at the conclusion of the period.
Urban, 24, suffered a torn biceps on Aug. 8, an injury that was initially feared to sideline him for the entire season. The Ravens are intrigued by the 6-foot-7, 295-pound defensive lineman’s potential, which is why they used their one designation to return on him at the start of the season instead of saving it for another injured player.
“I don’t know if you’d say Brent Urban is going to be some kind of premier pass rusher,” head coach John Harbaugh said last week. “Maybe he’ll develop into that, and we’ll all be excited. But he’s going to pressure the quarterback. He’s going to get push-back. He’s going to get knock-back. He’s going to create problems, just because of his leverage and his size, and he’s going to be definitely hard to throw the ball around.
“I think if nothing else — at the very least — he’s going to get batted balls, and that’s going to be good for us. He’s such a young player. We’re going to have to find out what kind of a player he is once he gets out there and gets going again.”
Urban suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee early in his first training camp, meaning expectations should be tempered for a player who hasn’t taken as much as a preseason snap in his NFL career. But the Ravens believe he can be a factor at the 5-technique defensive end spot — currently manned by veterans Chris Canty and Lawrence Guy — and as an inside rusher in passing situations.
