Elvis Dumervil never said anything about the physical issues he was dealing with, even though it was obvious he was not at full strength as his sack total shrunk from a franchise-record 17 in 2014 to six last year.
But following the second session of the Ravens' three-day minicamp, the strong-side linebacker finally acknowledged injuries held him back last year and prompted the need for foot surgery earlier this offseason. Dumervil is sitting out this week's minicamp, but is expected to be ready at some point early in training camp.
"Last season was brutal," Dumervil said Wednesday. "You don't feel sorry for yourself. You play every game that you possibly can play in. … There's a lot of stuff that I was dealing with. I was hurting."
Dumervil, 32, didn't disclose the nature of the surgery, aside from saying it was "somewhere in my foot area." He said it was an injury that was lingering, so he decided to get it taken care of to prevent further issues.
"At this point, I feel good," Dumervil said. "I'm ready to start getting after it and as far as getting healthier and getting my body back into football shape. Once that happens, at some point in training camp, I'll be ready to go for the season. I feel much better than I felt last year."
When Terrell Suggs went down in Week 1 with a season-ending Achilles injury, Dumervil became an every-down player. During his previous two seasons with the Ravens, he played mostly on passing downs with Courtney Upshaw being used in obvious running situations.
Dumervil played 559 defensive snaps in 2013 and 603 during his franchise-record breaking 2014 campaign. Last year, his snap count ballooned to 792, and he appeared worn down by season's end. Dumervil did not have a sack in the Ravens' final five games.
He acknowledged Tuesday that he's excited about having a deeper outside linebacker rotation with Suggs and Za'Darius Smith both back. The Ravens also drafted Kamelei Correa in the second round and Matthew Judon in the fifth.
Even if he's healthy, Dumervil doesn't want an increase in snaps again.
"I plan not to do that again," Dumervil said. "I'll do whatever I have to do, but ideally I would love to have a rotation, keeping guys fresh and keeping guys doing what they do best."