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It wasn't all smooth sailing for Terrence Cody last night.
Brought in to work with the Ravens' red zone offense as an extra fullback early in the game, the rookie defensive tackle missed a block on his first play, and was flagged for a false start on his second.
Then, after making his first tackle in NFL action, Cody had a bit of an equipment problem.
"I wanted to celebrate, but my shoe came off and I had to come off the field," he said.
That's never a good thing.
Despite a couple hiccups, Cody looked strong in his first true test.
The big fella might have seen more playing time than any other Ravens player, and he took advantage of the opportunity, posting five combined tackles, including one for loss. He was a big factor in the running game, tossing aside blockers and demanding double-teams up the middle.
"I can't wait to see the tape," head coach John Harbaugh said. "He made some plays in some big situations, where we had to get some stops, and I thought he controlled the [line] in there pretty well."
"It felt good to be out there in full pads going up against opponents and stuff," Cody said. "It's been probably six or seven months since I've hit a different opponent, so it was nice to be out there again."
Cody was even a factor as a pass rusher, an area where he is often overlooked, as he drew multiple double-teams and pushed the pocket on a handful of occasions, throwing off the timing of Panthers quarterbacks.
"That was one of the things I wanted to work on, affecting the quarterback and messing up his timing," Cody said. "I'm not going to get many sacks because there's going to be a lot of double-teams on pass plays. I don't think any offensive lineman wants to go one-on-one with me, but that's one of the things I wanted to work on, affecting the quarterback."
Cody's conditioning has been a big topic of discussion since prior to the Draft, but he's appeared to be in good shape throughout camp, and he certainly looked fit enough tonight.
The rookie says that he's holding strong at around 350 pounds, and while he can still lose a little more weight, he's reached the target area that the Ravens wanted him to be.
"It's a lot better than it was," Cody said. "I feel my conditioning is good right now, but it can get better. You want to be in good shape for the season because you play 16-plus games, so I want to get better. But my weight is down right now, so it feels good."
In a game where he saw upwards of 40 snaps, what will the rookie remember most about his first NFL game?
"Just the way I played, how much I played, and the effort I played with on every snap," he said. "I was running around the field, making plays on every snap. That's going to be the memory - playing hard and playing for the Ravens. Playing in my first NFL game, even if it was a preseason game."
