Sergio Kindle, the Baltimore Ravens second-round draft pick who suffered a fractured skull in a fall and still hasn’t signed with the team, says he thinks he can play this year.
“I’m confident that I’ll be cleared,” Kindle told the Baltimore Sun on Tuesday night. “I thought the tests went well. But I don’t have the final say. When the doctors give the results to the team, that will let me know if I can come back.”
The tests Kindle referred to were neurological and cognitive evaluations yesterday at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore. He has an MRI scheduled for today, and then he’s heading back to Texas.
Kindle, a linebacker from Texas, seems to feel good and believe he’ll be able to play fairly soon. But the Ravens aren’t even going to talk about a contract until they’re sure he’s ready to play -- and it’s still possible the Ravens will determine he’s not ready to play this year at all.
Kindle said he fell down the stairs when he got up at night to go to the bathroom while a guest at an unfamiliar home.
“I made a wrong turn,” he said. “It wasn’t my house. It was my first time being there. It was a big house.”
Now, Kindle says, he’s healed and ready to go.
“Once I’m on the team, the sky is the limit from there,” he said. “Once I’m cleared, I’m going to take it out of the doctor’s hands and do so well in rehab that I’ll prove that I’m ready.”