Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs, aka T-Sizzle, has been in the headlines a lot lately. We recently heard the good news that his recovery is going well and while he maintains that he will be back this season, the cause of the injury is back in the news.
Suggs’ injury has taken on a life of its own; it has become a “he said, she said” story with conflicting reports of how the injury occurred.
He originally said that he tore his Achilles tendon during conditioning workouts, now ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports 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 Ravens drafted Alabama linebacker Courtney Upshaw before Suggs’ injury and they say that Upshaw has looked good in the organized team activities.
Does it really matter how the injury happened?
No it doesn’t; it’s not a big deal. The only reason the story may have changed is because Suggs feared that the Ravens would not pay him if the injury occurred while playing in a basketball tournament.
The Ravens are not concerned with how the injury occurred; they maintain that they will pay Suggs throughout his recovery. They were happy that he continued his off season conditioning. Suggs was the 2011 defensive player of the year, they expected him to train in the off season; playing basketball is a form of exercise, he stayed in shape!
Suggs has been making progress in his recovery and 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.
Zennie Abraham