7 Possible Ravens Camp Casualties, What Losing Urban Means For Defense

Jul 24, 2014; Owings Mills, MD, USA; Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco (5), quarterback Keith Wenning (10) and quarterback Tyrod Taylor (2) drop back to pass during practice at Under Armour Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome to lunchtime links, where we round up all the latest Ravens news from around the web for your convenient consumption.  Today we identify 7 possible Ravens camp casualties, discuss what the loss of Brent Urban means for the defense, and debate whether or not Ray Rice’s press conference was sufficient on the second go around.

Shehan Peiris has 7 veterans who could end up as Ravens camp casualties, several of whom we have pointed out in the past as being on the bubble.  Peiris adds Albert McClellan to the list, along with Terrence Cody.  McClellan could be in real danger as he plays at perhaps the deepest position on the team right now, even though he is a key special teamer. The team will likely need the depth at other positions, like cornerback, where they don’t have as much talent.

Cody has never lived up to expectations and now has the talented Timmy Jernigan pushing him, along with a few other young players along the defensive line.  The two things working in Cody’s favor are his size, which makes him better suited for the nose, and the injuries that have occurred at the position early in camp.

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The worst injury to strike along the defensive line occurred Wednesday, when fourth round defensive lineman Brent Urban tore his ACL.  Jamison Hensley speculates that the Ravens will need Kapron-Lewis Moore, who is coming back from an ACL tear himself, to be productive this season as the direct backup to Chris Canty.  It also means that Canty has a better chance at sticking on the roster.

Finally, Ray Rice’s speech following Thursday’s practice was much more substantial than the rather awkward one he gave back in May, and seems to have quieted the critics a little.  Jamison Hensley believes that he sent the right message this time.  Even though Rice repeatedly refused to give details about what exactly happened that fateful night, he did apologize repeatedly and recognized the impact that the incident will have on his daughter in the future.

Rice also expressed a desire to help those affected by domestic violence in the future, and we hope he does just that. While time certainly heals all wounds and makes people forget incidents like these, we hope that Rice sticks to his word and puts a spotlight on these matters.  It will be good not only for his reputation, but for the NFL as well, after both got a bit of a black eye from this entire process.