As the Ravens move on from the disappointment of their 43-23 loss to Pittsburgh, they now face a roster decision regarding defensive tackle Terrence Cody.
The fifth-year lineman began the season on the reserve physically unable to perform list while continuing to rehab from offseason hip surgery. However, Cody has been practicing since Oct. 15, meaning his 21-day practice window — which allows him not to count against the active roster — is coming to an end and the Ravens must make a decision on his status. Baltimore is faced with three options: place him on the 53-man roster, send him to injured reserve, or waive him.
Will the Ravens make room for Cody?
“We’ll let you know. That’s certainly something we’d like to be able to do,” head coach John Harbaugh said Monday. “We have to figure out how we’re going to do it if we can. Terrence has done a good job. He looks good. He’s healthy. But we have to figure out the roster spot for that. We don’t have that answer right now.”
Under NFL rules, a team must make a decision by 4 p.m. the day after the 21-day window has concluded, which would presumably mean the Ravens must choose what to do with the 2010 second-round pick by Wednesday afternoon. General manager Ozzie Newsome re-signed Cody to a one-year, $730,000 contract in early April, but it became apparent last season that the 345-pound tackle had fallen out of favor as he played only 240 snaps, his lowest total since his rookie year when he was backing up longtime nose tackle Kelly Gregg.
A few weeks ago, there would have been more of a need for Cody as defensive linemen Chris Canty and Timmy Jernigan were sidelined with injuries, but both have made their returns to the field. Canty’s return would appear to make reserve defensive end Lawrence Guy expendable, but one could argue that the Ravens could make better use for that roster spot — such as potentially finding another cornerback — than adding another run-stopping tackle with the way Brandon Williams and Haloti Ngata have played this season.
Harbaugh was pleased with Canty’s performance as he played 30 snaps against Pittsburgh following a four-game absence due to surgery for a wrist infection. The experience left Canty unable to do much of anything for a few weeks as the staph infection needed to be addressed.
“He wasn’t in the greatest shape,” Harbaugh said. “He couldn’t do anything until this week, and he played 30-plus snaps and he was fine. He played really well. That’s a big plus for us.”
