Just 24 hours after placing another player on Injured Reserve, the Baltimore Ravens made up for that loss by signing a couple of wide receivers to their practice squad on Tuesday, Sept. 26.
The Ravens signed former wide receivers of the organization Dontay Demus and Tarik Black to the practice squad roster, the franchise officially announced on Tuesday.
We have signed WR Tarik Black and WR Dontay Demus Jr. to the practice squad.
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) September 26, 2023
We have also released G Kyle Fuller and TE Ben Mason from the practice squad.https://t.co/GmY0g8Ly8r
Both Demus and Black spent time in Baltimore this summer, taking part in the training camp and the preseason games played by the Ravens throughout the month of August.
Demus went undrafted last April and signed with the Ravens an UDFA after the draft. He is a local prospect having played at the University of Maryland and he capped his preseason with a two-reception, 86-yard game in the final midsummer matchup played by the Flock. Through the preseason, Demus grabbed three passes for 97 total yards.
Black is another UDFA, in this case from the class of 2021, who already has NFL experience having taken some snaps last year with the New York Jets in one regular-season game in which he hauled in two receptions for 10 yards.
Demus and Black join a practice squad that already features wide receivers Laquon Treadwell and Sean Ryan.
This was an inevitable move by the Ravens after losing Tylan Wallace for a month at the very least (minimum time off after getting placed on IR) as well as watching Odell Beckham (ankle) and Rashod Bateman (hamstring) leave Week 2 and Week 3 injured and most-probably missing time going forward.
The only healthy players in the current 53-man, active roster of the Ravens at the wide receiver position are rookie Zay Flowers, veteran Nelson Agholor, and special-team maven Devin Duvernay.
Ravens cut two players to open the spots filled by Tarik Black and Dontay Demus
In order for Baltimore to add both Demus and Black to their practice squad (after having waived both receivers last August by the roster-cut deadline), the Ravens had to open two spots in the PS.
The two casualties making way for Demus and Black to the PS were offensive guard Kyle Fuller and tight end/fullback Ben Mason. They released on Tuesday before the two wideouts could sign with the franchise.
Fuller was added to the practice squad two weeks ago but he's already trying to find a new team to catch up with. Mason was a Ravens fifth-round pick in 2021, but he was just a warm body used in blocking duties even in the PS so his services were very limited and ultimately deemed unnecessary.