Though he presumably didn’t run sans shirt, Ravens rookie nose tackle Terrence Cody was held out of the team’s first training camp practice on Tuesday because he failed the conditioning test.
The explanation came from coach John Harbaugh, according to Jamison Hensley of the Baltimore Sun.
Cody’s overall physical condition -- and size -- greased the skids for a fall deep into round two of the 2010 draft.
Of course, he’s not the first nose tackle to run into trouble when it comes to demonstrating that he’s ready to go. Two years ago, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin keep Casey Hampton out of practice for an extended stretch because of the extent to which subcutaneous fat was stretching his skin.
That said, nose tackles don’t need to be triathletes. They are big, fat agile men whose job is to clog the line of scrimmage like the main sewer line leading out of their houses.