Ravens practice squad: Matt Furstenburg, Omar Brown sign on

With the Ravens beginning its preparation for Thursday's season-opener against the Broncos, the organization announced seven players to its practice squad.

Those players are tight end Matt Furstenburg, safety Omar Brown, offensive tackle Joe Unga, offensive lineman Jordan Devey, center Reggie Stephens, defensive end Cody Larsen and linebacker Brandon Copeland.

All seven players were on the Ravens' preseason roster.

Fustenburg and Brown had the highest chances of making the 53-man roster but just missed out. Brown's omission was a bit of a surprise considering his standout play and ability to force turnovers. However, the Ravens went with safeties Brynden Trawick and Anthony Levine instead, opting for their special teams abilities over Brown's ability to back up the safety position.

One area hurting Brown in his quest to make the 53-man roster was the fact Baltimore's top three safeties — James Ihedigbo, Michael Huff and Matt Elam — are all cross trained to play both safety positions. With that in mind, it makes it easier to keep those three as the primary safeties, with Trawick and Levine specifically on the roster for special teams purposes.

Furstenburg came close to making the 53-man roster at tight end, though the Ravens decided to go with Ed Dickson and Dallas Clark at tight end. Whenever Dennis Pitta goes to injured reserve-designated to return, it's expected the Ravens bring back Billy Bajema to fill that spot so that the Ravens can have four tight ends in practice.

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