Suggs Likely to Return This Season
Apr. 18, 2012; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Baltimore Ravens player Terrell Suggs in attendance of the game between the Phoenix Suns against the Oklahoma City Thunder at the US Airways Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE
Anyone who has seen the Ravens defense this season knows that they have almost zero pass rushing ability. In Light of that Ravens fans should be extremely happy to hear that Terrell Suggs, who tore his achilles while working out in the offseason, remains on track to return at some point this season. John Harbaugh mentioned in his post game presser that Suggs was still ahead of schedule and was moving around well and even Running.
Suggs is currently on the PUP (Physically Unable to Perform) list, but is eligible to return after week 6. Looking at the Ravens schedule the ideal time for Suggs to return seems to be week 9 after the Ravens week 8 bye. That would give Suggs 3 extra weeks to recover and only cost to game absences. Weeks 9&10 the Ravens play the Browns and Raiders, those teams currently have a combined record of 1-6 so Suggs return may not be necessary.
The target may end up being week 11, the Ravens first game against the Steelers. At the very least that might be an opportunity to force the Steelers to game-plan for Suggs presence by hinting at his return. If Suggs is only going to play in certain packages, which is the prevailing theory, It might be an advantage to hold him out until week 11. If the Steelers are able to watch tape of Suggs playing this season then his role on the team will be fairly clear, whereas if he returns for the Steelers game they will not have the advantage of that knowledge.
On the Flip side of that, It could be more difficult for Suggs to get thrown back into the fire in a game against a much better team than the Raiders or Browns rather than having been eased in over those two weeks.
The Question just becomes when will Suggs be ready? The only people who know the answer to that are Suggs and the Ravens medical staff.