|
 The injury occurred on the second day of training camp, when Pitta
and safety James Ihedigbo collided in the end zone in pursuit of a
high pass. Pitta landed awkwardly on his side and had to be carted
off the field.
Pitta underwent surgery that night and was subsequently placed on
injured reserve with a designated-to-return tag. Although it
initially appeared Pitta was too hurt to play this season, he worked
diligently in the training room and his efforts paid off when he
joined his teammates at practice.
"It feels awesome to be able to get back and be in meetings with the
guys and hit the field a little bit," he said. "I feel great. I'm
going to take it slow, though, and make sure I can kind of integrate
myself back in."
The Ravens desperately miss Pitta, who had 69 catches for 669 yards
and seven touchdowns last season. He topped that off with 14
receptions in the postseason, including a touchdown catch in
Baltimore's 34-31 win over San Francisco in the Super Bowl.
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"Nothing against our receivers, tight ends or
anybody, but anytime you lose a good player that's been a big
part of what we've done around here, you miss something,"
quarterback Joe Flacco said.
The Ravens (4-6) own the league's 30th-ranked offense, and their
tight ends have only three touchdown catches.
There are no guarantees that Pitta will be able to return this
season. But now there is hope.
"It was great to see him out there, great to see him in the
meeting room," coach John Harbaugh said. "He's done a great job
with the rehab. It will be interesting to see how he comes along
in practice."
Pitta is delighted to be back on the field, but it's going to be
a while before he knows if he can play in a game.
"I've got to be able to play at an elite level," he said. "We'll
see how the next few weeks go, see how I progress and how I'm
doing on the field."
___
AP NFL website:
http://www.pro32.ap.org/
[Associated
Press; DAVID GINSBURG, AP Sports Writer]
Copyright 2013 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
