OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — The Ravens kept seven wide receivers and just four cornerbacks on their 53-man roster that was set Saturday.
However roster questions remain for a team that missed the playoffs last season for the first time in coach John Harbaugh’s six-year tenure.
The Ravens got down to the 53-player limit by the 4 p.m. deadline by releasing 13 players, moving two to the suspended list and moving two to injury lists.
The biggest surprises among the cuts were guard A.Q. Shipley and linebacker John Simon.
Shipley started nine games at left guard last season. But Shipley became expendable with the return of guard Kelechi Osemele, who missed most of last season with a back injury. Rookie guard John Urschel, a fifth-round draft pick, will be the top backup to Osemele and Pro Bowl guard Marshal Yanda.
Simon was a fourth-round draft pick last season but couldn’t make an outside linebacker rotation that includes Terrell Suggs, Elvis Dumervil, Courtney Upshaw and Pernell McPhee.
Cornerbacks Dominique Franks and Derek Cox were among the final roster cuts. Both were among the 57 players in uniform at practice Saturday morning.
Two others in uniform Saturday, running back Ray Rice and safety Will Hill, were put on the suspended list. Rice will miss the first two games stemming from his arrest on an assault charge in February. Hill is serving a six-game suspension for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy.
In addition, rookie receiver Jeremy Butler was placed on injured reserve with a shoulder injury, and defensive lineman Terrence Cody was placed on the physically-unable-to-perform list. He has missed the entire preseason recovering from hip surgery.
The release of Franks and Cox means the Ravens’ 53-man roster has just four cornerbacks. Starting cornerbacks Lardarius Webb (back) and Jimmy Smith (chest bruise) have missed extensive time with injuries this preseason, though both returned to practice Saturday.
The Ravens seemingly had a logjam at wide receiver, and ultimately kept all three receivers thought to be on the roster bubble — Deonte Thompson, Kamar Aiken and rookie Michael Campanaro. They join a group that includes Torrey Smith, Steve Smith, Jacoby Jones and Marlon Brown.
Two undrafted players made the team — linebacker Zachary Orr from North Texas and offensive tackle Bruce Hurst from North Carolina.
Harbaugh described the final cutdown day as “challenging.”
“You become empathetic to what they’re going through,” he said. “And that’s just how you feel about it. You do that with a number of guys, and after a while, it takes a little toll on you emotionally.”
Teams may re-sign eligible players to their 10-member practice squads on Sunday.
___
AP NFL websites: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
