The Ravens made changes to their 53-man roster hours before their Monday night game in Cleveland.
Offensive lineman Kaleb Johnson and wide receiver Daniel Brown were promoted to the 53-man roster while wide receiver Chuck Jacobs was cut and tight end Chase Ford (shoulder) was placed on injured reserve on Monday morning.
With starting left tackle Eugene Monroe (shoulder) and starting left guard Kelechi Osemele (knee) both listed as doubtful on the final injury report, the Ravens were facing the prospects of having just six healthy offensive linemen for Monday’s game against the Browns. A Rutgers product signed as a rookie free agent in the spring, Johnson played well in the preseason and had spent the entire season on the Ravens’ practice squad.
The 6-foor-4, 316-pound guard was set to serve as the primary interior line backup in his first game on the active roster.
Meanwhile, Brown was a bit of a preseason standout who caught second-half touchdown passes against Philadelphia and Atlanta. Entering training camp, the 6-foot-5 James Madison product was considered an intriguing developmental project and had spent a sizable portion of the regular season on the practice squad.
Jacobs had been signed to the practice squad on Nov. 4 and had been promoted to the 53-man roster last week, but he did not appear in a game for the Ravens.
With rookie tight end Nick Boyle missing last week’s game with a foot injury, the Ravens had signed Ford as extra depth earlier in the month, but he was added to the injury report on Friday with a shoulder injury.
The Ravens now have 17 players on IR before hitting the month of December, and that doesn’t include veteran tight end Dennis Pitta, who has spent the entire 2015 season on the physically unable to perform list.
Schaub on verge of being paid
Though the Ravens never envisioned Matt Schaub playing when they signed him in March, the 34-year-old is set to make an additional $1 million if he plays 10 percent of Baltimore’s snaps, something that now looks like a formality with starter Joe Flacco out for the season.
It’s difficult envisioning Schaub having too much success with the depleted offense around him, but the playing time he’s now on track to receive will eat up $1 million of Baltimore’s 2016 salary cap since bonuses and incentives aren’t applied until the following season. Schaub is also being paid a $2 million base salary for the 2015 season.
The Ravens probably wouldn’t be too disappointed if Schaub is unable to lead them to many wins down the stretch — it would help their 2016 draft positioning, after all — but they’d like to see him show enough to feel confident in re-signing him as a backup who could step in for Flacco during spring organized team activities and training camp if the franchise quarterback isn’t fully recovered from his knee injury.
Canty in ominous position in locker room
The Baltimore locker room in Owings Mills holds a 2015 injury “graveyard” as the lockers of Terrell Suggs, Steve Smith, Breshad Perriman, and Justin Forsett are next to each other. Not only are those four individuals out for the year, but they’ve been placed on IR in the order of their lockers from right to left, beginning with Suggs in mid-September and continuing most recently with Forsett last week.
So, who lockers to the left of Forsett?
It’s defensive end Chris Canty, who has noticed the same trend. The 33-year-old missed four games earlier this season with a calf injury.
“Don’t you put that evil on me, Ricky Bobby,” said Canty, quoting the late Michael Clarke Duncan’s character in the comedy Talladega Nights. “I see where you’re going with that, and I’m going to stay prayed up.”
Next up
In Week 13, the Ravens travel to Miami to take on the disappointing Dolphins, who suffered an abysmal 38-20 loss to the New York Jets in Week 12.
Having already parted ways with head coach Joe Philbin in early October, Miami fired offensive coordinator Bill Lazor and promoted quarterbacks coach Zac Taylor to the position on Monday. Entering the season expecting to compete for a playoff spot, the Dolphins are in last place in the AFC East with a 4-7 record.
The Dolphins ran the ball just nine times against the Jets while quarterback Ryan Tannehill threw 58 passes and was sacked three times in Sunday’s loss.
