Ravens announce four protected practice squad players for Week 2
Each week in the regular season this year every team in the league is allowed to designate four players from their expanded 16-man practice squad that they want to protect from being signed to another team’s active roster under the 2020 augmented rules due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last week they protected long snapper Nick Moore, offensive guard/tackle Will Holden, center Tyrstan Colon-Castillo, outside linebacker Aaron Adeoye from being poached. On Tuesday they announced that Moore and Colon Castillo will be protected for a second straight week and undrafted rookies Tyler Huntley (quarterback) and Ty’Son Williams (running back) are the other two.
Moore was a surprising name on the list ahead of the season opener and spawned some speculation about the health of starter Morgan Cox but it is likely more of a precautionary measure in the event that Cox comes down with an illness and isn’t available to play.
The Ravens would probably prefer to have a player at the position that punter Sam Koch and kicker Justin Tucker have experience practicing with instead of signing an unfamiliar free agent off the street who likely wouldn’t be available to play on short notice because of the series of tests visiting players must pass under the league’s COVID health protocols.
Colon-Castillo will once again provide some extra insurance and depth at both offensive guard and at center, if something were to happen to one of the players on the active roster ahead of a game whether it is an illness or if starting center Matt Skura who performed well in the opener suffers a set back as he continues to work his way back to full health from the knee injury that ended his 2019 campaign.
Huntley went undrafted out of Utah and battled 2019 sixth-round pick Trace McSorley for the third quarterback in training camp but likely didn’t make the final cut because there was no preseason this year. His addition to the list might be precautionary as well considering the Ravens are traveling to Texas to face the Houston Texans this week and they might want to make nobody poaches their extra quarterback in case one of their other option on the active roster falls in in transit or tests positive for COVID (knock on wood) the morning of or the night before the game.
As for Williams, the Ravens might just want to make sure they have an extra body in practice at running back and on special teams so that starter Mark Ingram can get a veteran’s day off sometime during the week of practice and since second-year running back Justice Hill has yet to be cleared to practice as he works his way back from a soft-tissue thigh injury.
