The Ravens officially placed cornerback Maurice Canady on injured reserve and re-signed wide receiver Chris Matthews to the active roster on Monday morning.
The transaction was anticipated after Canady was included in the initial 53-man roster set on Saturday, a procedural move that allowed the injured defensive back to remain eligible to receive a designation to return later in the season. Canady underwent knee surgery early in training camp, but he had made significant strides as a slot cornerback after Tavon Young suffered a season-ending knee injury during spring workouts.
Veteran safety Lardarius Webb is expected to begin the regular season as Baltimore’s nickel cornerback with surprising rookie free agent Jaylen Hill also in the mix at that spot.
Matthews was waived on Saturday when the Ravens made their final cuts to trim the preseason roster to the league-mandated 53, but he was a substantial part of their special-teams units over the summer and remained a candidate to be re-signed at some point. He caught four passes for 88 yards in the preseason after spending last season on IR.
A player designated to return may begin practicing after being on IR for six weeks and can be activated after eight weeks on the sideline. Beginning this season, teams may use the designation on two injured players after being allowed to use it just once in the past.
The move does not guarantee that Canady will be designated for a return as teams do not have to make that determination until a player is ready to return to practice. Until last season, teams had to decide whether a player would be designated for a return at the time he was placed on IR, but the change allows teams to remain flexible without knowing what other injuries will occur over the course of a season.
A sixth-round selection out of Virginia in 2016, Canady saw action in four games as a rookie before a hamstring injury landed him on IR.
