Blackburn happy to be back with the team, Wilkinson looking towards Wednesday for return

Another guy who was back at work was Chase Blackburn, who sprained his MCL in the preseason opener against the Jets. He said he had some “general soreness” but felt good running with the team in what wasn’t exactly a grueling practice.

“I got it caught a couple of times, but the pain was pretty quick and it didn’t linger around a lot,” he said of having the ligament “catch” while running in the grass. “That’s normal, they said, for coming back form it. We’ll deal with it as it goes.”

What’s also normal is having Blackburn practicing. While the team was off the last few days he was working on his lateral movements and trying to get his knee back in shape so he could practice today and ultimately play on Sunday.

“No doubt. It feels good to be back out there with the team,” he said. “You get on the sidelines for that long of a period, you kind of get a little distant from the team. To be out there feels good. That’s the biggest part of it.”

Another linebacker who has been sidelined is Gerris Wilkinson. Unlike Blackburn and O’Hara who we wrote about a post below, Wilkinson did not practice today. But he did say he hopes to be ready for Wednesday.

As for the thing with him saying he had a cramp in his groin after the Ravens game, he said he thought that’s what it was because the area was so tight. But when it didn’t go away they realized it was a sprain and had an MRI. He called it a “moderate sprain.”