Two days after Chad Slaughter poured concrete at his home, the offensive lineman arrived at Ravens’ training camp to fill a hole occupied last season by a future Hall of Famer.

The 6-foot-8, 340-pounder signed a one-year deal for the league minimum of $730,000  and is a candidate to replace 10-time Pro Bowler Jonathan Ogden at left tackle. Slaughter, who was waived by Oakland in 2006 and did not play in the NFL last season, bolsters an offensive line that’s reeling with injuries. Adam Terry (ankle) and Jared Gaither (ankle) have not practiced the past two days, and rookie Oniel Cousins, the starting right tackle, missed the second half of practice on Thursday with an injured right knee.

“[The coaches] told me it was going to be a little fast for me,” Slaughter, said. “They gave me this playbook today and the next thing you know I was out there with the first team.”

Slaughter’s signing came after the Ravens failed to come to terms with former Kansas City Chief offensive lineman John Welbourn. Welbourn, Slaughter and former Cleveland Browns offensive lineman Kelly Butler each worked out on Wednesday.

This story continues below
Advertisement

Slaughter made seven starts and appeared in 43 games from 2000 to 2006 with the Raiders. His signing allowed Mike Kracalik, a member of the Ravens’ practice squad last season, to move back to right tackle.

“SPECIAL” PLAYER

Linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo has made a great reputation as a special teams player after making the Pro Bowl the past two seasons. With linebacker Terrell Suggs sitting out training camp to protest being given the franchise tag — a one-year contract worth $8.5 million — Ayanbadejo could earn a spot on defense.

Ayanbadejo, who signed a four-year deal during the offseason, has made the most of his opportunity. The 6-foot-1, 228-pounder showed off his pass rushing skills on Thursday by forcing quarterback Joe Flacco from the pocket. Ayanbadejo intercepted Flacco on Wednesday.

“Brendon’s the happiest guy in the world because one of his packages went in [Wednesday], and he got a pick the very first day that package was in,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “That gets those guys juiced.”

DOING MORE WITH LESS

The Ravens still are doing a lot of mixing and matching during practice, as 19 of 80 available players did not practice Thursday morning.  Among the notable players who did not practice were defensive tackle Haloti Ngata (sprained right knee), linebacker Dan Cody (right foot) and defensive tackle Kelly Gregg (left knee).