NFL teams
Jamison Hensley, ESPN Staff Writer 8y

Ravens' Terrell Suggs on PUP list to start camp amid Achilles recovery

NFL, Baltimore Ravens

OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- In his first interview with reporters in 322 days, Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs was engaging, humorous and foul-mouthed.

The only part where Suggs held back was on his return to the field.

Suggs tore his left Achilles in last year's season opener and won't suit up for the first practice of training camp Thursday. He has been placed on the physically unable to perform list.

"We're close to where we want to be," Suggs said Wednesday, when the Ravens' full team reported to training camp. "I'll be honest with you: The Ravens side of me is like, '[F---] it, Sizz, let's go. Let's play some football.' But I've got to be smart with it. I can't be timid, but I've got to be smart. It won't be long before I'll be off of it and out there practicing with the guys."

Suggs, the 2011 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, said it's fair to say he's motivated by the questions on whether he can play at a high level again.

At 33, he is the oldest defensive player on the Ravens. He is coming off his second Achilles injury; he tore the right one four years ago. And he's entering his 14th NFL season.

"The simple fact that I had the opportunity to rehab, come back, listen to my naysayers, that's a privilege," Suggs said. "Every dark cloud has a silver lining, so I guess that's kind of mine. People say he can't do it again. I guess we're going to find out."

Suggs signed a four-year, $20.7 million contract extension in February 2014. Before his injury-marred 2015, he had double-digit sack seasons in 2013 and 2014, totaling 22, the sixth-most in the NFL over that span.

The Ravens don't want to rush back Suggs, and coach John Harbaugh said last month that Suggs has a shot to participate in training camp.

"To my eye, he's doing a really good job and working really hard," Harbaugh said in June.

After Suggs was injured last season, he disappeared from the team. He was rarely seen at the team facility and attended only one game on the sideline.

"It was just a sucky feeling. It was a sucky time for me," Suggs said. "We didn't start too good. It was just a really bad time. I didn't want it to be about me that I was gone. It was kind of like, 'Just let the smoke clear, and let everything happen.' That's what happened."

The biggest question for Suggs is about what is taking him so long to come back. In 2012, he returned to the field five months and six days after having surgery on a torn right Achilles tendon. Now, he isn't practicing despite being 10 months removed from tearing his left Achilles tendon.

"When it happened the first time, I was very anxious," Suggs said. "This time, I guess, I was just very patient. I learned patience, I guess, this time."

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