Long-time NFL center Matt Birk will miss two or three weeks after undergoing knee surgery. The Ravens had hoped to replace him temporarily with former Redskins center Casey Rabach, signing the veteran to a two-year deal.
The only problem? Per Jamison Hensley of the Baltimore Sun, Rabach failed his physical.
Unlike Deuce Lutui or Bryant McKinnie, who recently failed physicals in Cincinnati and Minnesota respectively for being too large physically, Rabach reportedly has a lingering shoulder injury.
And so the Ravens must move on to Plan C. Other veteran centers remain, but guys like Olin Kreutz and Shaun O’Hara probably won’t want to be a short-term fix before assuming a spot on the bench once Birk is back.
That said, the Ravens could decide to part ways with Birk and hand the duties over to a younger and healthier alternative.
We hope that doesn’t happen -- Birk is one of the league’s great guys -- but the Harvard grad is more than smart enough to know that there’s a chance the team could decide to move on. If he’s not healthy barely a week into camp, the Ravens should be concerned about his ability to remain healthy over the balance of the season.