Chris Westry Moves Into Critical Role for Ravens at Cornerback
OWING MILLS, Md. — Chris Westry has gone from signing a Reserve/Future contract with the Ravens to starting at cornerback.
He will have to play a critical role in Week 15 when Baltimore hosts the Green Bay Packers and quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
“For me, personally, it means the world. It just goes to show all the hard work and dedication you put forth towards the game," Westry said. "[For it] to come to fruition, it just means a lot, and it’s a testament to Coach ‘Harbs’ [head coach John Harbaugh], Coach Chris [pass game coordinator/secondary coach Chris Hewitt], Coach ‘Wink’ [defensive coordinator Don Martindale]. [It’s] just the ‘Raven’ way – how to mold and develop a player.”
Westry got off to a rough start against the Browns last week and was flagged for pass interference and illegal contact. However, he finished the game strongly and did not make any more mistakes.
“That’s just the life of a DB [defensive back] – the next-play mentality. You’ve got to just keep going," Westry said. "The game, it’s a long game, so you can’t just sit there and mope on one play; you’ve got the rest of the game to play.”
Westry, 6-feet-4, 197 pounds, signed a Reserve/Future contract with the Ravens on Jan. 18.
Westry had a solid training camp and played 33 defensive snaps against the Las Vegas Raiders in the regular-season opener before suffering a knee injury in that game.
In the first preseason game against the Saints, Westry flashed with two tackles and two passes defensed, one of which was deflected into the hands of safety Geno Stone for an interception.
Westry never missed a game in his four-year career at Kentucky, totaling 51 games (34 starts). He registered 134 tackles, 2 sacks, 15 passes defended, three interceptions and one fumble recovery.
As a senior in 2018, he played in all 13 games, recording 21 tackles, one sack and two passes defended.
Last season, he played in two games for the Cowboys, making one solo tackle, before being placed on Practice Squad Injured Reserve with a knee injury.
Now, he's on center stage getting ready to compete against a future Hall-of-Fame quarterback.
"This is the NFL," he said. "This is the highest level of it all, so everything has the attention to detail to it. I would say it’s more amplified than it is Aaron Rodgers, because of how great he is, and that’s pretty much it. Everything is more amplified when you’re playing the great ones, but at the end of the day, it’s the National Football League.”
