The brother of Ed Reed is apparently missing after jumping into the Mississippi River to avoid police.
According to WWLTV.com in Louisiana, officers from the St. Charles Parish Sheriff's Office had been pursuing a man in St. Rose, La., Friday. Around 10 a.m., the man was seen jumping into the river.
The man is believed to be 29-year-old Brian Reed, Reed's younger brother, according to their mother. Karen Reed acknowledged that Brian Reed has struggled with drug and alcohol abuse.
A man who answered the telephone shortly before 5 p.m. at Karen Reed's home in Saint Rose and identified himself as Wendell Sanchez, the oldest of Reed's five brothers, said they had not heard anything from police. Police have not found the man nor have they confirmed his identity yet.
"We still have hope that it's not him," Sanchez said. "There's a window that he's OK."
Sanchez said that he's been in touch with his brother Ed and would continue to keep him up to date on the situation, but at this point there were no plans for the Ravens safety to travel to Louisiana.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh spoke briefly about Reed during a Friday night teleconference to discuss the hiring of his brother Jim as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers.
"We've been in contact as an organization," Harbaugh said. "All I want to say is, our thoughts and prayers are with the Reed family at this difficult itme. We're just praying for them. I love Ed Reed, I know he's fighting something now and hopefully it'll turn out OK."
The Ravens' outlook improved with the likelihood that outside linebacker Terrell Suggs and defensive tackle Haloti Ngata will start in the team's AFC Wildcard game against the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday.
Both players returned to practice Friday on a limited basis after sitting out two days and are listed as questionable for Sunday's contest. Suggs wore a black sleeve on his right knee, but otherwise appeared fine. Similarly, Ngata did not seem limited by his thigh injury.
Suggs, who said he injured his knee in last Sunday's 13-7 win against the Cincinnati Bengals when a Bengals player cut-blocked him during a reverse in the first quarter, listed his status for Sunday as "50-50."
"I'm all right," he said after Friday's practice. "I thought I'd practice and see how it is, see how I felt. Right now, it's about 50-50. So I guess I'm going to let coach decide what to do come Sunday."
Suggs acknowledged that the attraction of playing in the postseason might accelerate his healing.
"I love the playoffs, the opportunity to go ahead and go for, in our case, the Holy Grail," he said. "I don't know. I guess we'll have to see how it feels Sunday."
Ngata said his thigh injury has improved since he, too, injured it against Cincinnati.
"I felt good," he said. "Went out there and practiced today. The body feels good and hopefully, I can continue to get better and then I'll be ready to play Sunday."
Coach John Harbaugh said giving both players time to recover on Wednesday and Thursday benefited them.
"I think [the rest] has been good for them," Harbaugh said. "I think we'll be OK."
Other injury news
Linebackers Tavares Gooden (dislocated left shoulder) and Dannell Ellerbe (head), free safety Ed Reed (ribs), cornerback Josh Wilson (head) and free safety Tom Zbikowski (bulging disk in back) have been limited the past two days and are also questionable.
Starting inside linebacker Jameel McClain (back) was upgraded from limited to full participation and is listed as probable. Joining him under that designation are wide receivers Derrick Mason (ankle) and David Reed (torn ligament in left wrist), left tackle Michael Oher (sprained right knee/ankle) and center Matt Birk (left knee).
For the Chiefs, starting left guard Brian Waters and wide receiver Quinten Lawrence practiced fully after missing the first two days because of illness. Both players are listed as probable.
Top wide receiver Dwayne Bowe was removed from the injury report.
Suggs gets fined
Suggs was fined $15,000 for punching Bengals wide receiver Jerome Simpson last Sunday.
An NFL spokesman confirmed Friday that Suggs was disciplined for striking Simpson in the face after Cincinnati left tackle Andrew Whitworth had ripped Suggs' helmet off late in the fourth quarter.
After the game, Suggs acknowledged punching Simpson.
Strength vs. strength
Sunday could take on a strength-vs.-strength feel between Kansas City's top-ranked rushing attack and the Ravens' fifth-ranked run defense.
"We love when teams like to run," Ngata said. "We'll see how it goes during the game, but if we can take away their best thing, then that's an advantage for us. Like I said earlier, we're hopeful we can do that and we can get to [quarterback Matt] Cassel instead of worrying about the run more."
Chiefs running backs Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones combined for 2,363 yards on the ground, making them the fourth-most prolific rushing duo in league history by a pair of teammates each with at least 500 yards.
But if there is one tailback to key on, it's Charles, who finished the regular season second only to the Houston Texans' Arian Foster in rushing yards with 1,467. And Charles' 6.38 yards per carry ranks second all-time to Jim Brown's 6.40 average when he played for the Cleveland Browns in 1963.
"Pure explosive," Ravens inside linebacker Ray Lewis said of Charles. "That's the way they draw up his schemes. That's what they like to do with him. That's why he's the second-leading rusher in the National Football League. He's just one of those talents that they love him in Kansas City. And if you watch him, you see why. He's one of those guys that really controls the tempo of the game."
Tantalizing match-up awaits Suggs
Can Chiefs left tackle Branden Albert succeed where an injured right knee did not and hold back Suggs?
Suggs, the team's top pass rusher with 11 sacks this season, could face Albert, the Glen Burnie native who has surrendered 17 sacks in 29 games – including eight in 15 starts this year.
Those numbers surprised Suggs, who then made a request.
"I wasn't aware of that, but I'm going to ask you all to make sure you don't make him aware of that because that's going to be his No. 1 goal," Suggs said Friday. "But it's a whole new season, so all of that stuff we did the regular season doesn't really count right now."
Ravens wary of Chiefs' Hali
One factor in Kansas City's improvement to 39 sacks this season from 22 in 2009 has been the performance of outside linebacker Tamba Hali.
The former first-round pick in 2006 wrapped up the regular season with 14½ sacks, which was tops in the AFC and second in the NFL to Dallas Cowboys outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware's 15½ takedowns.
The primary task of cutting off Hali Sunday falls on left tackle Michael Oher.
"He's legit," Oher said of Hali. "He's a pretty good player. He's going to be a challenge the entire game."
End zone
Ray Rice will be playing in his fifth playoff game on Sunday, so the Ravens running back knows what to expect when the postseason begins. "I'm just going to be honest with you, I didn't know what the playoffs were like until I got into the game and realized how hard the hits were," Rice said. "The hits are a lot harder in the playoffs when you've got guys fighting for a ring. I've got buddies and friends who have been in the league, and they haven't even scratched the playoffs; they haven't even been there. I've been telling them the playoffs are [like] no other. Being able to say that I've played in some playoff games now, I know what it's all about." … Oakland Raiders offensive coordinator and former Ravens quarterbacks coach Hue Jackson has been linked to head-coaching vacancies with the Raiders and the San Francisco 49ers after he helped the Oakland offense improve from 31st in average yards in 2009 to 10th this past season. Ravens offensive coordinator Cam Cameron said Jackson is a worthy candidate. "I've thought a lot about Hue for several years — before I'd ever worked with him — and then worked with him the last two years here, and [he] really helped us do a lot of things that we were able to do," Cameron said Thursday. "He had a tremendous amount of input here, and however it works out for him, I think we'd all be thrilled for him." … The Ravens are three-point favorites heading into their playoff game at Kansas City. Home underdogs have been dangerous in the playoffs. Since 1980, home teams are 17-9 when they haven't been favored in postseason games. In their first playoff game under Harbaugh — a Wildcard game in 2008 — the Ravens routed the Miami Dolphins, 27-9, after being favored by 3½ points.
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Baltimore Sun reporter Don Markus contributed to this article.