OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Ravens head coach John Harbaugh continues receiving the question and again provided the same answer regarding the status of Joe Flacco on Tuesday.
How is the franchise quarterback progressing with his surgically-repaired left knee?
“He’s ahead of schedule, just as he has been,” said Harbaugh while smiling. “He’ll be here for training camp. The big thing is no setback. He was running out here — he’s been running. I saw him running and I’m like, ‘Man, you’re running!’ I didn’t know he was doing [as much as] what he was doing. I hadn’t seen him run really. He was running more than I thought, so it looked good.
“That [progress evaluation is] with the training room and the strength and conditioning coaches. I feel like it’s going well.”
The 31-year-old is still less than seven months removed from tearing the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his left knee, but the Ravens remain confident that he will be back on the practice field this summer in plenty of time to get ready for the 2016 season. Flacco had never missed a game prior to injuring his knee in the final moments of a 16-13 win over St. Louis on Nov. 22, 2015.
He underwent surgery on Dec. 8 and has now been running for a couple months.
In addition to Flacco, linebackers Terrell Suggs (Achilles tendon) and Elvis Dumervil, wide receivers Steve Smith (Achilles tendon) and Michael Campanaro (calf), cornerbacks Jimmy Smith (foot) and Kyle Arrington, and offensive linemen Marshal Yanda and Eugene Monroe were not on the field for Tuesday’s organized team activity open to reporters. As he did during the first week of OTAs, Suggs was rehabbing and working out at the team’s Owings Mills training facility during the practice.
Rookie defensive end Bronson Kaufusi remains sidelined with a back injury suffered during last month’s rookie camp. Harbaugh confirmed that he is not expected to return until training camp, which will put the third-round pick behind veteran Lawrence Guy and 2014 fourth-round pick Brent Urban in the competition for the starting 5-technique defensive end job.
“I don’t think he’ll probably practice,” Harbaugh said. “They told us that when it happened that it was going to be a [lengthier absence]. He kind of wrenched his back for lack of a better term. He will definitely be back in training camp. He’ll be training hard here between now and then.”
In positive injury news, running backs Kenneth Dixon and Trent Richardson both returned to the practice field after sitting out the first week of OTAs with hamstring injuries.
