Baltimore Ravens linebacker, Terrell Suggs, suffered a torn Achilles’ tendon last week during the first regular season game against the Denver Broncos.
The veteran is expected to be out for the remainder of the season, but says that this season would not be his last.
Suggs, a defensive leader for the Ravens, has been an asset for the team since 2003.
Following a torn Achilles injury in the 2012 offseason, Suggs returned in October becoming the first player in the NFL to recover from that class of an injury so quickly. Later that season, the Baltimore team went take the championship title. Suggs received the award of NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
Talk of retirement has been circling for the linebacker following his injury earlier this week. Like most teams, the Ravens have financial limits that hinder them from being able to make changes to the roster while keeping their veterans and key players happy. It is a challenging task trying to renovate a team without short changing anyone.
According to an NFL insider at CBS Sports, a close source to Suggs says he will not be retiring. Suggs will be 33 in October. Suffering a torn achilles twice in the last three years and pushing 35, there is no telling if Suggs will be able to get a team to make him a long-term offer.
Defensive coordinator Dean Pees says that right now, the team’s finding the person who is going to step up and be a leader.
“I also don’t want to diminish the opportunity that it is for our guys to raise up and find other leaders. And everybody’s got to take a part in this. It is not one guy that’s going to come up and say, ‘OK, well, I’m going to be Suggs.’ Everybody has to be their own personality; we’ve got to do it collectively as a defense and as a coaching staff, too. We’ve got to do our part. We’ve all got to rise up and just play a little harder and do a little more.”
The Ravens will play today at four o’clock against the Oakland Raiders. This will be the first time the team will play without Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, or Suggs since 1998.
