A balky hamstring sidelined Ed Dickson for four consecutive days of practice and the Ravens' 13-6 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the preseason opener for both teams on Thursday night.
How much longer the tight end will remain on the sideline is a question that Dickson answered without committing himself to a specific date.
"I'm day-to-day right now," he said in the locker room beneath Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. "With a soft-tissue hamstring injury, you've got to take it one day at a time. For a person of my nature where I'm blocking guys and I'm running full-speed routes, you can easily hurt it again. So they wanted to take time and keep me out of this game. I'm eager to get back. Preseason, any game that I get to play in and see another team, I'm eager to get in because our defense gives us a great look every day."
Dickson, who caught 11 passes for 152 yards and one touchdown last season, is hungry to get back and compete with Dennis Pitta and Davon Drew for the right to succeed Todd Heap as the starting tight end.That's why Dickson chafed at being relegated to a spectator Thursday night.
"I'm a competitor," he said. "So whenever I'm looking at my teammates battle, it takes a toll on me. I'm fired up to get more and more treatment to get back out there as soon as possible. I'm trying to get ready for that opener against the [Pittsburgh] Steelers [on Sept. 11]."
Pitta led the Ravens in receiving, catching four passes for 47 yards against the Eagles. While it might appear that Dickson is losing ground to Pitta, Dickson said he's been working on his assignments without putting stress on his tender hamstring.
"It doesn't set me back at all because I'm constantly working on my craft," he said. "Even if I'm not out there physically for practice, I'm watching more and more film, I'm doing the little technique things. Even with me being off for a couple days, I was still out there catching 100 balls on the Juggs [machine], I was working on my footwork, just doing the little things to get me better."
