Not long after his agent said “Unless something happens, he will play this week,” linebacker James Harrison said he will not.
Harrison in a Twitter message this evening:
“Saw the doctor today. Looks like I won’t be playing this weekend but at least I’m cleared for practice.”
Earlier, agent Bill Prise said “I think that is possible” that Harrison wojuld play against Baltimore Sunday night.
“Unless something happens, he will play this week,” Parise said.
Harrison went on to write on his Facebook page: “Worst case scenario, I’ll be back after the bye for sure.”
Injury-riddled LB corps: On top of Harrison missing the showdown with the Ravens and LaMarr Woodley possibly sitting out the big game, 15th-year linebacker James Farrior has a torn calf muscle that could keep him out another month.
Young bucks: Looks like defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau will have to count on rookie fifth-round selection Chris Carter (Fresno State) at linebacker come Sunday night. The 6-foot-1, 248-pound Carter, who was the WAC’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2010, registered his first regular season tackle last week in Arizona and tallied a pair of stops Sunday against New England.
As for the other young buck, Jason Worilds, he has been inactive the past four weeks with a quad injury. Worilds is a 6-foot-2, 262-pound second-year pro who was drafted out of the second round from Virginia Tech.
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DrGeorge
November 1, 2011 at 7:10 am
We’ll probably see more of S. Sylvester, too. This is a great opportunity for the young guys on our defensive roster to demonstrate their mastery of pro techniques. In the Pats game, Carter was not over-awed by the situation and played well, except for his tendency to be over-aggressive and swing wide (outside the OT), leaving a running lane inside his position. (J. Harrison does the same thing, by the way.) Carter will have to learn to hold his position better than that. Being inexperienced, the others probably have similar flaws in their technique. But the Ravens will give them a chance to see if they can play effectively against the big boys, without the comforting presence of our own big name veterans. Win or lose, it will be a good learning experience for them. And if they play as well as they did against the Pats, it ought to be a successful outing.
That makes Worilds’ injury all the more poignant. This would have been his chance to shine if he were healthy. Now, he can only watch while someone else exploits the opportunity. He will really have to step up when he does recover, because the experience Carter and Sylvester are acquiring may make him dispensable otherwise. Being a #2 draft pick will earn him a little goodwill. But ultimately, Worilds is going to have to produce to expecations, and the loss of playing time will hurt him.
reese
November 1, 2011 at 7:45 am
i just have to vent about this thaddeus gibson would have been a additional option,a former 4th rounder thats no longer with us,now that was a horrible business decision,but the games must go on
DrGeorge
November 1, 2011 at 4:31 pm
I also thought Reese was an excellent draft pick. As I recall, he was cut to allow one of the injured veterans to remain on the roster (A. Smith?). No one seemed to object at the time, but it had to be an agonizing decision for the coaching staff, because of Reese’s potential. “Better a bird in the hand than one in the bush” was the apparent logic for that move. Football is a business, and such decisions must be made without the benefit of hindsight or perfect knowledge. It looked like a sound decision at the time — events just didn’t play out as expected.