Ed Dickson was able to participate in practice for the first time since partially tearing his hamstring in a practice over two weeks ago in Annapolis, Md.
Dickson spoke to the Baltimore Sun after practice and offered optimism for his availability for the season-opener against the Broncos.
"I always feel good about my chances," Dickson told the newspaper. "When you're dealing with an injury, it's tough because dealing with a muscle pull you don't want to come back too soon and aggravate it. It went pretty good. Actually, I didn't have any soreness. When you first get out there, you want to test it a little bit and open it up, but they told me to be smart. I'm going by the rules and making sure I don't aggravate it."
This is good news for the Ravens, considering there was an ESPN report indicating Dickson might not be ready for the Denver game. Dickson adds athleticism to the tight end position, which currently has three aged veterans in Dallas Clark, Visanthe Shiancoe and Billy Bajema.
Dickson won't play in Baltimore's third preseason game this Thursday against Carolina and likely won't participate in the preseason finale against St. Louis.
The fact Dickson is back with two weeks left in the preseason, however, is a good indicator that he should be able to jump back in with the first team offense when the regular season rolls back around.
"Obviously, they are kind of bringing him along slowly, but it shows that he's making rapid improvement," offensive coordinator Jim Caldwell told reporters Monday. "We're certainly glad to get him out there and get him a little work."
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