The return of reports that Terrell Suggs hurt his Achilles playing basketball this week led to a rehashing of the fact that the Ravens could go after some of the Defensive Player of the Year’s money because it was a non-football injury.
There’s never been even a small sign that the Ravens were planning to do that and owner Steve Bisciotti put the argument to rest for good on Friday. Calling the idea a “really bad one” that would send a “terrible message,” Bisciotti said that he wouldn’t be the least bit upset with Suggs if he did get hurt playing basketball.
“I would be more upset if he hurt himself sleeping on his couch all offseason, you know,” Bisciotti said, via Aaron Wilson of the Carroll County Times. “To me, if our players are engaged in activities that get them in shape then I’m proud of them for doing it. I don’t know if I would be working out in April the way these guys do what they do. I’m proud of Terrell. He got criticized for being out of shape a couple of years ago and he said it would never happen again. He made the Pro Bowl last year and then he made Defensive Player of the Year this Year. I want these guys striving. It gets pretty boring in the weight room. He wasn’t kite boarding. I’d like to see that one day. If he’s playing basketball, that’s great.”
We’d also like to see Terrell Suggs kite boarding one day. For now, though, we’ll settle for putting this story to rest once and for all. The Ravens’ response to all of this has been totally reasonable and they’re doing the best thing for the team by focusing only on when Suggs will return instead of making a mountain out of the molehill of how he was hurt.