OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The Ravens have signed veteran linebacker Kyle Van Noy to the practice squad, and he was on the practice field with his new team Sept. 27 as they prepare to face the Cleveland Browns in a key early-season AFC North matchup.
Van Noy could be pressed into action right away given the Ravens’ depleted outside linebacker group. Odafe Oweh remains sidelined by an ankle injury sustained in Week 2, and David Ojabo left the Week 3 game against Indianapolis with an ankle injury and did not practice Sept. 27. Tyus Bowser is on the non-football injury list and is ineligible to return until next week.
With Ojabo sidelined, the Ravens relied on rookie Tavius Robinson and Jeremiah Moon, a practice squad callup who made his regular-season debut against the Colts, to play a significant number of snaps. They essentially worked in a three-man rotation at outside linebacker with Jadeveon Clowney.
Van Noy, 32, is an eight-year veteran who had visited the Ravens this summer but left without a deal. He enjoyed his most productive seasons with the New England Patriots from 2016-2019. He was drafted in the second round out of BYU by the Detroit Lions in 2014, then traded to the Patriots in the middle of the 2016 season. He won the Super Bowl twice with the Patriots, after the 2016 and 2018 seasons.
Van Noy recorded a career-high 92 tackles in 2018 with the Patriots and had a career-high 6.5 sacks and 15 quarterback hits with the Patriots the next year.
Van Noy spent the 2020 season with the Miami Dolphins, then was back with the Patriots for one year before joining the Los Angeles Chargers last season. In 17 games (13 starts) with the Chargers, Van Noy totaled 46 tackles and five sacks. Van Noy has recorded at least five sacks in five of the past six years and has 33.5 sacks in his career.
“I have always liked Kyle Van Noy as a player,” Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said. “You go back to Patriots-Ravens games, him being out there, playing the way he played. … He’s just a ferocious player, smart player, tough player. I know he’s in shape, and he’s ready to go. If needed, he’ll be out there helping us.”
NOTEBOOK
HARBAUGH RECALLS “MOST GRACIOUS” BROOKS ROBINSON: Harbaugh opened his weekly Wednesday news conference by remembering Orioles Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson, who died a day earlier. Harbaugh shared a story that he first met Robinson when trick-or-treating with his then-6-year-old daughter, Alison, during their first year in Baltimore.
“We come up to a house and ring the doorbell, and the door opens, and it’s Brooks Robinson,” Harbaugh said. “I’m a baseball fan. I know who Brooks Robinson is. I was just stunned. … He had the biggest smile on his face and welcomed us. We talked for a few minutes, and that was how I got to meet Brooks Robinson.”
Harbaugh said he saw Robinson several other times throughout the years and called him “the most gracious man I think I’ve ever met in my life, just a prince of a person.”
STANLEY, LINDERBAUM, WILLIAMS RETURN: The banged-up Ravens got some positive injury news as tackle Ronnie Stanley (knee), center Tyler Linderbaum (ankle) and safety Marcus Williams (pec) all returned to practice. All three sustained injuries in the Ravens’ season-opening win against Houston and missed the next two games. All three were listed as limited on the team’s injury report.
In addition, running back Gus Edwards was back on the field after leaving the game against the Colts three days ago to be evaluated for a possible concussion.
HUMPHREY REMAINS SIDELINED: Marlon Humphrey (foot) did not practice, meaning the Pro Bowl cornerback is likely to miss his fourth straight game. Humphrey underwent foot surgery in mid-August, and at the time, Harbaugh said the procedure was done then to minimize disruption during the season. But Humphrey has not practiced since the injury, meaning he could miss all three of the Ravens’ early AFC North matchups.
Safety Kyle Hamilton missed practice with a back injury, according to the injury report. He was in the locker room after practice in no apparent discomfort.
BECKHAM, BATEMAN MISSING FROM HOBBLED RECEIVER GROUP: The Ravens’ wide receiver group in practice this week looks much different than it did a couple of weeks ago. Odell Beckham Jr. missed last week’s game with an ankle injury and did not practice, and neither did Rashod Bateman, who said his hamstring had tightened up against the Colts. The Ravens also lost Tylan Wallace (hamstring) in that game, and he’s been placed on injured reserve.
With that group ailing, the Ravens have added former Maryland receiver Dontay Demus Jr. and Tarik Black to the practice squad. Both were with the team during training camp and then released in the final cutdown. If Beckham and Bateman can’t play this week, it’s likely that Laquon Treadwell would be called up from the practice squad for his first regular-season action with the Ravens. Zay Flowers, Nelson Agholor and Devin Duvernay are the only healthy receivers on the 53-man roster.