Ravens activate Jaylon Ferguson from Reserve/COVID-19 list

The third-year edge defender is back at practice.

After missing the past three games, Baltimore Ravens’ outside linebacker Jaylon Ferguson returned to practice on Wednesday for the first time since Sept. 24. He was activated from the Reserve/COVID-19 list.

Ferguson hasn’t played since the team’s monumental win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 2. The third-year pro tested positive for COVID-19 just a couple of days before the Ravens’ matchup with the Detroit Lions. It caused defensive linemen Brandon Williams and Justin Madubuike and outside linebacker Justin Houston to miss the game as well after they were designated as close contacts through contact tracing.

While he is back on the practice field, Ferguson will not immediately revert to the active 53-man roster, as he still has a COVID exemption still in place. The length of his absence essentially hints that he is among the select few players on the roster that remain unvaccinated. Vaccinated players can return within five days after testing positive as long as they produce two negative tests 24 hours apart from each other.

Ferguson will rejoin a stacked outside linebacker depth chart that has seen several of its members play at a high level through the first five games of the season, most notably first-round rookie Odafe Oweh. Ferguson played just 11 defensive snaps and 15 on special teams in the first two weeks of the season and still might not be in the regular rotation when he’s fully returned.