The Baltimore Ravens placed LB Brendon Ayanbadejo on Injured Reserve (thigh) Tuesday afternoon, general manager/executive vice president Ozzie Newsome announced.
To fill Ayanbadejo's vacant roster spot, Baltimore signed LB Prescott Burgess off the New England Patriots' practice squad.
Burgess, originally a sixth-round draft pick by the Ravens in 2007, was traded to New England on Sept. 22 for a conditional draft pick. The 6-3, 247-pounder was released less than a week later and re-signed to the Patriots' practice squad on Sept. 30 after clearing the waiver wire, where all teams – in order of lowest to highest winning percentage – have a chance to sign players to their active rosters.
If a practice squad player is still under his developmental contract, a team must place that player on the active roster to acquire him.
Burgess left Baltimore as the team's leading special teams tackler (five stops) after two games. He will look to help fill the void left by Ayanbadejo, who sustained his injury this past Sunday in the game at New England.
A three-time special teams Pro Bowler, Ayanbadejo has six special teams tackles this season. After earning AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors for his performance against the Browns in Week 3, he made his first start of the season last Sunday at New England. Ayanbadejo currently ranks second on the Ravens' defense with 22 tackles (14 solo), while he also has one sack and one interception.
(Burgess' bio can be found on page 91 of the Ravens' media guide.)
