While training camp is an exciting time, it can also be dangerous and unfortunately that rang true for Baltimore Ravens tight end Dennis Pitta. He likely broke his hand during padded practice on Monday.
He will have an MRI on Tuesday, then a prognosis can be made and the doctors can determine if he will need surgery. If his hand is broken, he will likely miss the entire preseason.
Pitta is a major offensive contributor. Last season he caught 40 passes for 406 yards and three touchdowns.
It would be a major blow if Pitta were to miss a significant portion of the regular season. The team still has Ed Dickson who had 54 catches for 528 yards and five touchdowns in 2011.
Davon Drew took reps today; he spent the last two seasons on the practice squad.
The saga continued for offensive tackle Bryant McKinnie who returned to training camp today, but did not practice with the team.
McKinnie missed the beginning of camp last week; he only reported that he was “dealing with an issue”. It later came out that he suffered a lower back injury while at home in Florida. The team fined him $30,000 for missing part of training camp.
Ravens head coach said that McKinnie is undergoing a physical and:
“He finished up this morning. He and I had a long conversation, a very good conversation. Like I said many times, I do believe he is a hard worker. I do believe he is working hard. But he’s not ready to practice yet.”
There is still a question about his weight and whether or not he got down to his target weight of 345 this off season, he thinks he is around 350. He still needs to pass the team’s conditioning test.
I am keeping my fingers crossed that Pitta’s injury heals quickly so that he can play soon. Pitta is a huge part of the offense and one of quarterback Joe Flacco’s favorite targets. I worry about the void he will create if he misses part of the regular season.
I’m still not sure what to make of McKinnie’s reason for missing training camp. I don’t want to see anyone injured, but I go back and forth about believing him.
Even if he really hurt himself, I’m bothered that he isn’t sure if he reached his target weigh this off season. McKinnie is a professional football player who gets paid a lot of money to stay conditioned. He’s a tackle so he *should* weigh more, but if he can’t stay on target, the job should go to someone who can stay in shape and maintain weight.
