Baltimore Ravens’ Linebacker Terrell Suggs

Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs has made headlines a lot this year. He made them again on Thursday when he was ordered to surrender firearms last month as part of a domestic violence case involving his long term girlfriend and former fiancée, Candace Williams. Suggs and Williams have two children together.

Suggs’ attorney Warren Alperstein said that Williams filed for a court order in November, he did not provide additional details; he only said:

“The guns were surrendered over to police pursuant to the court order, and they [Suggs and Williams] are resolving their issues. All I can tell you is that he’s in rightful and lawful possession of the guns but turned them over pursuant to the requirements of the law.”

Suggs filed a custody complaint against Williams on November 19, Williams filed her complaint afterwards.  The police said that two calls were made to 9/11 on November 21, but no reports were taken.

Alperstein said the attorneys “anticipate that all of the domestic-related issues will be resolved” in court next week.

Williams filed a complaint in December 2009 that Suggs threw a soap dispenser at her during an argument over game tickets. She filed for temporary custody of their children; then withdrew the complaint and the 70-million lawsuit.

Ravens senior vice president of public and community relations Kevin Byrne said the organization is aware of the situation, but declined to comment as did Suggs.

Suggs is currently recovering from a biceps tear and is a game-time decision for Sunday’s game against the Washington Redskins.

I don’t think Suggs will miss any playing time over this matter. He is allowed to own firearms; I just hope they weren’t used in an illegal manner.

Best of luck Suggs…

Baltimore Ravens’ LB Ray Lewis Returned to Practice Wednesday

Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis is super human. He returned to practice today after tearing his triceps muscle on October 14. He had surgery to repair the tear and was placed on the special injured reserve designated to return list.

At 37 years old and in his 17^th season in the NFL, Lewis defied all odds by coming back. He is eligible to play December 16 when the Ravens face the Denver Broncos; his exact return date has yet to be determined.

“I don’t know that he’s ready to play in a game [right now],” Head Coach John Harbaugh said. “This will be part of his rehab and we’ll see how he does. When the time comes and if we think Ray can play, we’ll let you know.”

The Ravens released this statement from Ray Lewis:

“I’m making progress and will practice some today,” Lewis said. “But the story shouldn’t be about me right now. We’re playing the Redskins Sunday, and I am not eligible to play. If I can help prepare my team in some way for that game, I will. When I know I will play in a game, or when I play in game, I will say more then.

The Ravens also confirmed that linebacker Terrell Suggs tore his biceps muscle during Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said of Suggs’ injury:

He basically has a bicep, a very serious strain, it could be called a tear, it’s something he could possibly play with,” Harbaugh said. “He’s figuring out now with the trainers and the doctors.”

Suggs is a game-time decision for next week’s game against the Washington Redskins. He practiced Wednesday and vowed to return this season.

“If you can breathe, you can play.” Said Suggs. “I really believe that if everything fares out, how I’m feeling, and we do a good job throughout the week, then I will be lining up, if not, then I miss the Washington game and hopefully I can be back for the Denver one [next week].”

This was Suggs’ second injury this year. He tore his Achilles tendon in the spring and had surgery to repair the tear. He defied all odds by returning to the field in October.

I’m still amazed that Ray Lewis practiced today. He is a medical marvel. While I want him to play again, I still maintain that it may be time to determine an exit strategy. 17 seasons as a Pro Bowl linebacker has taken its toll on him.

I hope Suggs is able to play Sunday. The Ravens’ defense needs all the help it can get when they face Redskins’ quarterback RG3. Suggs has a high threshold for pain, hopefully he can withstand it enough to suit up, we need him.

Baltimore Ravens lost to Houston Texans 43-13

The Baltimore Ravens got their clocks cleaned on Sunday when they played the Houston Texans on the road. The game started off on a sour note when quarterback Joe Flacco was sacked and the Texans scored a safety. This started the ugly chain of events that culminated in the 43-13 beat down of the Ravens.

Ravens’ head coach John Harbaugh described the loss like this:

“Sometimes you get tossed out of the bar,” head coach John Harbaugh said. “I’m concerned about everything.”

At half-time the Texans were up 29-3; the hole got deeper and the Ravens had no way of getting out of it.

The offense couldn’t get it going. While their no-huddle works fine at home, it stinks on the road and the Ravens abandoned it during the game. The offense did not have more than 15 yards on any one play.

Flacco finished with his lowest quarterback rating since last season’s game against the New York Jets. Flacco was 21 for 43 for 147 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions and a quarterback rating of 45.4.

Running back Ray Rice was virtually non-existent; he had nine carries for 42 yards and no touchdowns.

Flacco had no explanation for what went wrong:

“I don’t really have an answer for you,” he said. “I think that’s just the way it worked out. These guys are a good team. We didn’t play up to the level that we expect to.” “They played well. We didn’t,” Flacco said. “They played fast and we just weren’t able to stand up to it today and give it a good fight.”

The offensive line did a poor job protecting Flacco; he took eight hits and was sacked four times.

Wide receiver Tandon Doss scored his first career touchdown; he was the only Raven to find the end zone on Sunday.

The defense had their own set of issues. It was the first game this season they played without middle linebacker Ray Lewis, out with a torn triceps muscle and cornerback Lardarius Webb, who is out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL.

The Ravens’ defense had few big hits and no spark; the only good thing was the return of linebacker Terrell Suggs. Suggs had surgery for a torn Achilles tendon in May and was on the PUP list until last Wednesday when he was removed from the PUP and practiced for the first time.

Word quickly spread that he would likely play Sunday, but Suggs and coach Harbaugh would not confirm or deny if Suggs would suit up. Then to the amazement of everyone, he was on the field and back in action.

Suggs impressed with one sack and three tackles. He was the only bright spot on the defense; unfortunately one person cannot stop an entire team. Texans quarterback Matt Schaub went 23 for 37 for 256 yards. The Texans set a franchise record with 420 yards.

Ravens’ special teams played well and rookie kicker Justin Tucker hit his fourth 50+ yard field goal this season.

The Ravens are on a bye this week; it couldn’t have come at a better time. They need the time off to recover from their nagging injuries, reflect on what went wrong and find ways to repair the holes. They come back to another road game against division rival Cleveland Browns in Cleveland.

The game was painful to watch. While I assumed the Ravens would lose the game, I didn’t expect them to be beaten to a pulp. They need to pick themselves up, dust themselves off and figure out how to “Play like Ravens” again.

It was hard watching a team with so much potential play so poorly. I hope that was the worst I see from them this season. Not only do the players and coaches need the bye, but their fans do too. We need to regroup and prepare for Cleveland; in the meantime we’ll keep our fingers crossed…

Roster Reduced to 75 Players

As we near the start of the 2012 season, the Baltimore Ravens made their first cuts by reducing their roster to 75 players by the Monday, 4pm deadline.

The biggest decision they made so far was waiving veteran kicker Billy Cundiff on Sunday and going with rookie Justin Tucker.

The Ravens added two players to the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list, linebacker Terrell Suggs who is still recovering from surgery on a torn Achilles Tendon and wide receiver David Reed. Reed tore his ACL last season in the December 24 game against the Cleveland Browns.

Being on the PUP list means Suggs and Reed will miss the first six games of the regular season. They can practice after the sixth week and for up to three weeks before being designated to the active reserve, injured reserve (IR) or waived.

Both players are confident they will play this season. Suggs maintains that he will be back by November and believes that he will play at some point this season, though no time table has been set for his return.

“I will be in a Baltimore Ravens uniform in 2012,” Suggs said at Ravens minicamp in June. “The only question is when.”

Reed has been rehabbing his knee this off season, he will face tough competition to be a wide receiver and/or kick returner when he returns.

The Ravens placed several players on the IR ending their 2012 season:

• Linebackers Darryl Blackstock and Steve Baggs
• Safety Emanuel Cook
• Defensive Tackle Ryan McBean

And they cut the following players:

• Tight end Davon Drew
• Wide receivers Patrick Williams and Devin Goda
• Outside linebacker Addison Lawrence
• Cornerback Jordan Mabin
• Center Cecil Newton
• Long snapper Patrick Scales
• Quarterback Chester Stewart

The deadline to trim the roster to 53 players is Friday at 9pm.

Oh what a difference a year makes! This time last year there was a work stoppage imposed by the owners of the National Football League’s (NFL) 32 teams. The lockout meant there was no preseason, well not until July 25, 2011 when the settlement was approved by the NFL.

It was a painful time for me. A huge football fan, I live for this time of year, yes, “this” time of year. I am beyond excited that we are just weeks away from the start of training camp! Opening day of football season is like Christmas and playoffs are awesome if your team makes them, but I like this time of year.

Baltimore Ravens training camp opens July 26, rookies report July 25. Training camp means it is time to get back to business. It is like the first day of school for the team, rookies are the freshmen, veterans are the upper classmen and all must learn how to play with one another.

The Ravens have many questions that need answers during training camp. Who will replace linebacker Terrell Suggs? Who will be the starting kicker, Billy Cundiff or Justin Tucker? Will Bryant McKinnie get in shape before the start of the season or will the Ravens need to unload him? Who will be the No. 3 wideout?

There are more questions that need answers and I trust the coaches to find the right answers and best solutions.

I get nervous during training camp and preseason games; I cross my fingers that no one gets hurt. Even though there isn’t much contact or tackling during the preseason, players are still susceptible to injury and I hope that doesn’t happen.

Right now everyone is on an even playing field. It is a time of hope, discovery and the beginning of the long and windy road to New Orleans, a place I pray the Ravens will be at the end of their journey.

It’s been an interesting summer in Baltimore. The Orioles are still in the hunt for the AL wild card and Baltimore sports radio is still talking about them. I love that the O’s still matter, but I miss the football talk; I want to hear about my boys in purple.

Thankfully it is the All Star Break and since all is quiet on the baseball front, the talk turned to the Ravens.

I will enjoy this time of year and hope for the best this season. I wish the Ravens the best and I’ll see them on the field in September.

On July 3^rd I did something I never thought I would do…I participated in a live radio interview about the Baltimore Ravens.

I was invited to guest on the “Buehler’s Day Off” radio show, KXPS 1010 AM, in Palm Springs. The show is normally hosted by Julie Buehler, the first woman to host prime-time sports talk radio in California broadcasting history.

The show was “hijacked” by Zennie Abraham, Executive Producer of Zennie62.com. Long story short, Zennie and Julie are friends, they bet on the NBA finals and since Zennie won the bet, he got to guest host Julie’s show for the day.

I am the Ravens contributor/blogger for Zennie62.com and Zennie asked me to talk about the Ravens.

I answered questions about linebacker Terrell Suggs’ injury and who will fill in for him, I talked about rookie linebacker Courtney Upshaw and veteran linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo. I also gave my thoughts on quarterback Joe Flacco and whether or not he is the right guy for the team.

It was a fun experience, one that I hope to do again someday, for now I can listen to the podcast.

Listen to my interview. You’ll need to skip ahead to hear me, I start shortly after the 16:00 minute mark.

Feedback is welcome, please send me your thoughts/comments/questions!

Summer officially started this week. Baltimore Ravens fans can take a break from football for a bit, mandatory minicamp is over and the official countdown to training camp has begun. Training camp opens July 26.

The offseason was quiet for the Ravens, well at least in free agency as they aren’t known for making a big splash. They had a decent draft and time will tell how their picks pan out, some may start this season.

The biggest news of the offseason was star linebacker Terrell Suggs tearing his Achilles tendon in May. His return date is unknown; he recently backed off his November return date. His replacement has not been named yet, rookie Courtney Upshaw is in the running as is Paul Kruger.

We are patiently waiting for starting running back, Ray Rice to sign a new contract. The Ravens placed the franchise tag on him this offseason, but a new agreement has yet to be reached. The deadline is July 16. Rice did not participate in OTAs or mandatory minicamp and some fear that his absence will affect the offense this season.

Rice is keeping in shape, he’s working out and practicing on his own so I have no doubt that he will be ready to go, though it would have been nice for him to be at minicamp, especially since quarterback Joe Flacco missed some of the minicamp for the birth of his baby Stephen Flacco.

There is the big question of who will be the No. 2 running back. After Ricky Williams retired earlier this year, the Ravens now need to fill his vacancy. No frontrunner yet, the battle will play out in training camp between rookie Bernard Pierce and veteran players Anthony Allen and Damien Berry.

There is concern about the offensive line and the age of some of the players. Age makes for experience, but will it slow them down? Matt Birk and Bobbie Williams will be 36 in October and Bryant McKinnie is 33. The younger players who may be added to the O line are untested and there are questions surrounding their ability to bring their “A” game.

We have no clue who will be the 3^rd wide receiver. Newly acquired Jacoby Jones is the frontrunner, but he sat out part of minicamp with an undisclosed injury leaving the field open for prospects LaQuan Williams, Tandon Doss and rookie Deonte Thompson.

Then there is the Ed Reed drama which still annoys me, but I trust that he will be ready for training camp. He attended his own training camp in New Orleans this week so at least we know he is alive and kicking.

This is only the tip of the iceberg, as there are other questions I haven’t touched on and I’m sure new questions will arise, but that’s why it is a game, the pieces/players are constantly changing. It is head coach John Harbaugh’s job to find the solutions.

For now I’m going to enjoy the calm before the storm or is it the storm before the calm? While I hope it is the latter, time will tell how things shake out. I have faith in coach Harbaugh’s ability to make the right decisions, he’s done it before and hopefully he will do it again.

Dreams can come true. It happened to Baltimore Ravens top draft pick Courtney Upshaw. First he was drafted by the team in April and last week he met Ravens veteran linebacker Ray Lewis during mandatory minicamp.

He was all struck when he met Lewis. “At first it was like, ‘Wow, this is Ray Lewis,’” said Upshaw.

So far, Upshaw is the favorite to win one of two positions; the strong side or rush linebacker. He would replace injured linebacker, Terrell Suggs, who will miss most of the season after tearing his Achilles tendon in May. His return date has yet to be determined.

The Ravens drafted Upshaw before Suggs’ injury, now he is likely to start this season. While Suggs wasn’t able to participate in the team practice, he attended all practice meetings and watched film on Upshaw.

Lewis and Suggs were impressed with what they saw of Upshaw.

“I just love his motor,” Lewis said. “He’s a kid that just loves football.” said Lewis.

And Suggs said, “He’s ahead of where I was when I came in my rookie year.”

After practicing alongside Lewis, Upshaw is over the “wow factor” and has faced the reality that Lewis is his teammate.

I like what I’m hearing about Upshaw. The coaches and players are very impressed by him and they are optimistic about his future with the team.  I hope that he follows in Suggs’ footsteps and steps up to the challenge of becoming an elite Ravens linebacker. The future is in his hands and right now it looks bright.

Good luck Upshaw! I’m excited to see you on the field; I will be pulling for you.

Just when we thought we heard enough about Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs tearing his Achilles tendon, it reared its ugly head again becoming a “he said, she said” story with conflicting reports of how the injury occurred.

While Suggs’ maintains that the injury occurred during conditioning workouts, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that witnesses saw Suggs injure himself during a three-day basketball tournament.

Herman (Sonny) Hoffman, the director of the Akchin Gymnasium in Arizona where the tournament was held, said of Suggs:

“He got hurt Sunday prior to the (basketball tournament) championship game…” Hoffman claims his staff saw the incident and said: “He had no movement, no step, and it swelled up right away.”

Suggs declined emergency medical services and left the gym. When Suggs was questioned the following Tuesday he said: “Simply not true. I hurt myself doing my conditioning test.”

The Baltimore Ravens said they will pay him no matter how he hurt himself; they are happy he stayed in shape during the off season.

The Ravens drafted Alabama linebacker Courtney Upshaw before Suggs’ injury and they say that Upshaw has looked good in the organized team activities.

The big question is…Does it matter how Suggs was injured?

If the Ravens aren’t bothered with how the injury occurred, should it really matter to us? I don’t think it is a big deal. So what if he injured himself playing basketball, it is a sport; playing it meant that he was exercising and staying in shape. I don’t have an issue with that. I want my players to stay in shape during the off season.

And if he injured himself during conditioning training…well then that speaks for itself. Training meant that he was prepping for the 2012 season and I could never be mad about that. He was the 2011 defensive player of the year, he *should* be working out during the off season.

Suggs has been making progress in his recovery and still maintains that he will be back this season.

“I won’t say I’m ahead of schedule, but I’m a lot better than I, the doctors and rehab therapist thought. I kept telling people it wasn’t as bad as some people made it out to be.”

He is wearing a walking boot and working on his flexibility and range of motion.  While I view him as a warrior on the field, I also want him to be smart about his recovery and take his time to avoid injuring himself again or prolonging his recovery.

I know he will come through the tunnel again and I can’t wait to see it happen.

This is starting to sound a little too familiar. Baltimore Ravens outside linebacker, Michael McAdoo, tore his Achilles tendon on Thursday during an organized team activity.

Unfortunately he is the second Ravens LB to tear his Achilles tendon this off season. LB Terrell Suggs tore his in early May and will miss the first half of the season, no time table has been set for his return.

McAdoo had surgery Friday and will miss the entire season. He was attempting to fill in for Suggs. Ironically, Ravens writer, Ryan Mink wrote an article on McAdoo before the injury occurred. He felt he was further ahead than he thought, apparently a bit too far ahead…

At 21 years old, McAdoo was the youngest player on the Ravens’ roster. He was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2011, but did not play all season because of a knee injury.

The competition will continue for the rest of linebackers vying for a roster spot including Paul Kruger, Sergio Kindle, Albert McClellan and newly drafted Courtney Upshaw.