This morning, ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting that Terrell Suggs is targeting and is expecting to make a comeback from his Achillies injury on Sunday versus the Houston Texans.
Conflicting reports have surfaced in regards to when Suggs would make his return but few saw this coming, especially from such a reliable and credible source like Schefter. Yesterday, Suggs stepped foot onto an NFL practice field for the first time this season and  speculation was that he’d return sometime after the Ravens bye week.
During his first on-field appearance in pads, Suggs appeared to be slightly overweight and that was expected as it’s difficult to do many cardiovascular workouts after a critical injury to a lower extremity. During practice yesterday, Suggs was able to run and warmed up by jogging at a fast pace from sideline to sideline.
Regardless of Schefter’s report is accurate or not – and they generally are – Suggs’ return on Sunday wouldn’t be wise. The defense is struggling and it becomes even more desperate to have Suggs on the field, especially after the loss of Ray Lewis potentially, and Lardarius Webb definitely for the season. No athlete has returned after an Achillies injury in such a short period of time but Suggs has stated all along that his injury wasn’t as serious and his surgery wasn’t as invasive.
Even if Suggs feels he can play, the Ravens trainers and coaches should probably err on the side of caution and shut him down until after the bye week. The former Defensive Player of the Year is just getting into practice shape, let alone try to stop one of the best offenses in the NFL.
Schefter does his due dilligence before reporting and is rarely wrong. Going out on a limb as he has with this report means that he has good information and what he was texted from a “league source” even stated that Suggs has family and friends traveling to Houston in anticipation of watching him make his remarkable return.
More commonly, this news could be floated to Schefter’s “league source” with direction from the Ravens coaching staff as a play to give the Texans more to plan for as they prepare to face a battered and liable Ravens defense. This won’t be the first time it has happened and it won’t be the last either.
The fan base will love to see Suggs on the field sooner rather than later but Sunday may be too soon.
