If Jeremy Maclin looked like he was a step slow last year, there may have been a reason.
The Ravens wide receiver said during Adam Schefter of ESPN’s podcast that he played last season with a torn groin. Maclin missed four games because of the problem, and his production was obviously down from the year before.
“Well, I tore my groin last year,” Maclin said. “So, if I’m supposed to be just as fast with a torn groin, then more power to them. Man, I guess they just have to wait and see. I don’t really have anything else to say about that. Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion. I’ll still be able to get open. I’ll still be able to make big plays, that’s for sure.”
He came back to play the final five games for the Chiefs, though he had just 16 catches for 188 yards and no scores. That made it easier for them to justify his release, even if the timing was odd.
“I came back and I was able to play but I can’t sit up here and tell you I was 100 percent,” Maclin said. “I’m also not going to sit up here and make excuses. At the end of the day, I didn’t play as well as I could have last year and that’s ultimately what happened.”
Maclin didn’t have surgery to repair the damage, so he’s ostensibly ready to go full-speed for the Ravens now.