When you think of Terrell Suggs, you picture a constant, fiery presence in the locker room. After all, with Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, and other former leaders all gone, Suggs is the heart and soul of the Baltimore Ravens. He's the team's hypeman, lead dancer, and lead singer too.
So where has this familiar face been ever since he ruptured his Achilles about a month ago?
No one knows, not even the team's officials.
Per Mike Preston of The Baltimore Sun, there's hardly been a peep out of Suggs ever since Sep. 13, the day that he sustained the season-ending injury. The organization has received no phone calls and only one text message from the linebacker since then. General Manager Ozzie Newsome isn't concerned in the slightest.
While one would expect a leader like Suggs to be on the sideline, showing his support, that hasn't been the case. However, this wouldn't be the first time a notable Raven has been absent from the team.
Ray Lewis, the leader of a team, and a city, got excused absences on three occasions in his career. First, in 2002, Lewis left the team after suffering a season-ending shoulder injury. Then in 2005, a hamstring injury that sent him to the injured reserve kept him out of Baltimore. Finally, in 2012, Lewis suffered a triceps tear, and spent most of his time rehabbing in South Florida.
It's certainly unfortunate that 'Sizzle' isn't around, pumping up the team with nonsensical speeches, or teaching the youngsters the finer points of the game. There was a plan in place to get him on the sidelines for this week's game against the Cardinals, as Suggs has a residence in Arizona, but that fell through because he wanted to be with his children in Baltimore for the weekend. While Ozzie seems to have the utmost confidence in Suggs' return, I'm still considering the elephant in the room, and even Newsome himself brushed over that.
That elephant would be Suggs calling it quits, and it is certainly a possibility. He's not the same player he was before, and two surgically-repaired tendons at this point in his career could be costly. This Ravens' team is already so strange, racking up the losses, not wins. The Baltimore Ravens without Terrell Suggs would be something hard to get used to.