Dr. Ed Reed Says Suggs, Rolle Good to Go; Evidence Suggests Otherwise

NFL editor Chris Burke attended the Ravens' practice on Thursday, and filed this report.

Addressing the media after Thursday's Baltimore practice, safety Ed Reed declared that "of course" injured teammate Terrell Suggs would play in Pittsburgh on Sunday. Reed may want to double-check Suggs' chart again.

Baltimore's star linebacker answered questions post-Dr. Reed, and was nowhere near as upbeat. Suggs' right arm sat motionless in a sling, and the linebacker looked and sounded as if he was reading a eulogy.

He responded to several questions about his playing status for the AFC Championship by stating, "I don't know," and remained non-committal when elaborating.

"We'll have to wait and see Sunday," Suggs said. "It's not like food poisoning or anything like that. It's my shoulder. I definitely don't want to mess it up any worse than it already is. Let's just wait until Sunday. That's just the best thing I can say."

Suggs called the shoulder injury, which he sustained making a tackle on Titans quarterback Kerry Collins, "the freakiest thing I've ever seen," explaining that he could not pinpoint exactly what happened or how. Suggs even said that he wasn't sure what his diagnosis was, but indicated that he may have suffered ligament damage: "I don't know, I'm not a doctor. They just said, they've never seen anything like it."

Sounds promising, no?

Suggs said he would do everything in his power to play in Pittsburgh -- he's currently rehabbing the shoulder several times a day -- and Reed believed those efforts would be more than enough to get the Ravens' star ready.

"You'd have to strap him down," Reed said. "It's just like what they're saying about Troy's (Polamalu) calf -- I know the competitor (Suggs) has in him, and you're going to have to strap those guys down for them not to play in this game some type of way."

That said, the Ravens are preparing for life without Suggs.

"He's one of the great players in the NFL and you can't replace a Terrell Suggs, pass rushing, dropping into coverage, doing whatever he does," cornerback Corey Ivy said. " It doesn't change schematically, but guys know that they might have to do a little extra because (Suggs' backup) might not be as skilled."

Speaking of backups ... and Corey Ivy ... the eight-year vet could play a huge part in Sunday's game, because Samari Rolle missed practice on both Wednesday and Thursday. The groin injury he sustained at Tennessee is making him, too, appear more and more doubtful for Sunday. In fact, he didn't even get the benefit of the a positive prognosis from Reed.

"From experience to knowing the game plan, to making plays, we definitely will miss Samari," Reed said. "We expect (Pittsburgh) to attack guys that haven't been in there. I would if I was playing against it. It happens, but that's why other guys get paid."

And it sounds like we're getting awfully close to finding out what Baltimore's "other guys" are capable of.