Ryan Grant ‘ecstatic’ to be with Raiders, calls failed physical with Ravens ‘blessing in disguise’

A little more than a year ago, wide receiver Ryan Grant signed a four-year contract to play with the Baltimore Ravens.

Or so he thought.

‘I’m thankful (the Ravens) did what they did’

The next day, the Ravens announced he had a physical for what Ryan said was a “mild ankle sprain,” making him a free agent. Grant then signed a one-year contract with the Indianapolis Colts. And on April 3, he joined the Oakland Raiders.

“I think it was a blessing in disguise,” Grant told Zig Fracassi and Alex Marvez on the End Zone about the Ravens voiding his contract. “I feel like, had I signed with the Ravens, they probably would have, you know, did some other shady stuff to get me traded or released or something like this. So I’m thankful that they did what they did. No hard feelings towards the organization over there in Baltimore.

‘It just feels like I’ve been drafted all over again’

“But I’m happy where I am now. Super excited to be a part of the Raiders organization. It’s the spirit and the culture of the team. And it just feels like I’ve been drafted all over again. I’m just so ecstatic.”

“When I went to Baltimore for the physical, I was honest with the physicians. I told them, ‘You know, I sprained my ankle, I didn’t miss any time. And for whatever reason, they said that I failed the physical.”

Nevertheless, Grant can’t deny some lingering hard feelings. He said he had the ankle sprain since December of 2017, while he was with the Washington Redskins, but continued to play through it and “finished the season just fine.”

‘In reality, nothing was wrong with my ankle’

“It stings a little bit now and it always will,” he said. “When I went to Baltimore for the physical, I was honest with the physicians. I told them, ‘You know, I sprained my ankle, I didn’t miss any time. And for whatever reason, they say that I failed the physical.

“They were like, ‘Oh, there’s something there.’ But, in reality, nothing was wrong with my ankle. It was a minor ankle sprain and it was something that they didn’t want to move forward with that I believe.”