Ravens Training Camp Surprise: Cornerback Chris Westry

Third-year player spent time with the Cowboys.

OWINGS MILLS, Md.— Ravens cornerback Chris Westry was penalized for taunting in the first preseason game against the Saints.

That's about the only thing he has done wrong over training camp. 

Westry has been one of the team's most consistent defensive backs and he has a solid shot at making the final roster. 

"With [Chris] Westry, a guy that’s that big and that long and that fast … I don’t know how we got him here, but God bless Eric [DeCosta] for doing it," Ravens defensive coordinator Don Martindale said. "I mean, he’s really come on. He had the foolish penalty, [and] what I explained to him was [that] ‘Captain Obvious’ can see – third-and-long – we can’t afford that. All the Pop Warner, all those points … But the thing that I told him that pissed me off was you’re sending 10 guys back out there that didn’t need to be back there on the field."

Westry, 6-feet-4, 197 pounds, signed a Reserve/Future contract with the Ravens on Jan. 18. He has been physical with the wide receivers and has broken up several passes throughout training camp in one-on-one matchups.  

Last season, he played in two games for the Cowboys, making one solo tackle, before being placed on Practice Squad Injured Reserve with a knee injury. 

In the first preseason game against the Saints, Westry flashed with two tackles and two passes defensed, one of which was deflected into the hands of safety Geno Stone for an interception.

Westry might have found a home in Baltimore. 

"He’s done a really good job," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. "He’s a guy [that] I think as he pays more and more attention to the detail of his technique, and he repeats good technique rep after rep, he starts making plays. It’s definitely shown up in camp.”

Westry never missed a game in his four-year career at Kentucky, totaling 51 games (34 starts). He registered 134 tackles, 2 sacks, 15 passes defended, three interceptions and one fumble recovery. 

As a senior in 2018, played in all 13 games, recording 21 tackles, one sack and two passes defended. 

[He’s] super long," wide receiver Devin Duvernay said. "You definitely have to approach him differently. … From the smaller guys to the taller guys, they all have their own problems [you have] to deal with. I just attack it like another guy out there.”


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Todd Karpovich
TODD KARPOVICH

Twitter: @toddkarpovich Email: todd.karpovich@gmail.com Skype: todd.karpovich Todd Karpovich has been a contributor for ESPN, Forbes, the Associated Press, Lindy's, and The Baltimore Sun, among other media outlets nationwide. He is the co-author of “If These Walls Could Talk: Stories from the Baltimore Ravens Sideline, Locker Room, and Press Box,” “Skipper Supreme: Buck Showalter and the Baltimore Orioles,” and the author of “Manchester United (Europe's Best Soccer Clubs).” Karpovich, a Baltimore native, is a graduate of Calvert Hall College high school, Randolph-Macon College in Virginia, and has a Masters of Science from Towson University.