OWINGS MILLS — It was a disastrous rookie season that never was for Baltimore Ravens outside linebacker Sergio Kindle, fracturing his skull when he fell down two flights of stairs and later being arrested and charged with driving while under the influence.
However, the Ravens haven’t given up yet on Kindle. The second-round draft pick has received a more encouraging medical prognosis lately from neurological specialists.
"To have been able to sit here the day we picked Sergio and say that he was going to fall down a flight of stairs, I couldn’t predict that one," Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome said today when asked if ever second-guesses his draft decisions. "But that story is not written yet. And we’ll wait and see how that outcome is going to be. But that story is not completely written yet."
Recently, coach John Harbaugh expressed optimism that Kindle could eventually be cleared after missing his entire rookie season.
"There’s some hope there, there’s a chance," Harbaugh said during a conference call with season ticket holders. "I’m more optimistic now than ever before that he has a chance to come back and play. It will just be a matter of seeing how well he does."
Kindle recently visited neurological specialists in Boston and Michigan and told National Football Post that it went well, but emphasized there was nothing definitive learned about his status.
"I don’t know how to describe it exactly in medical terms, but they’re very pleased with his progress," Harbaugh said. ‘There’s a chance he could be cleared to compete in football at some point and time."
Harbaugh was adamant that Kindle has to get medically cleared before the team can begin making any plans for him on the field. Kindle is also subject to the NFL personal conduct policy for his DWI and is due in Howard County District Court on May 18.
If the Ravens get Kindle back, they’ll have a second-round draft pick who never played last season and was named All-Big 12 Conference at the University of Texas.
"He’ll go out there and compete with everybody else," Harbaugh said. "If he can regain some of that form he had at Texas, here’s a guy that’s a big, fast, strong, aggressive guy who loves football and can rush the passer, that would be a bonus for us. That’s for sure."
