Although the medical outlook of Dennis Pitta remains unresolved as he continues to recover from his second fractured, dislocated right hip within the past year, coach John Harbaugh said that the tight end's injury isn't necessarily considered career-ending.
Pitta underwent successful surgery at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland in September, but he told The Baltimore Sun in October that he won't know for sure if he can come back until he begins rehabilitating his hip in a few months. Pitta is off crutches.
"Everything I've been told, and I've got to be honest with you, it was surprising to me because my assumption would be 'Wow, this twice in a row, it's going to be tough,' but they say it has no bearing on the future," Harbaugh said Monday. "If he feels 100 percent, Dennis can play again. Dennis has told me he wants to play again, and of course if he wants to play, he'll get every opportunity to play if the medical people clear him.
"I've been told to this point that they see no reason why he wouldn't be cleared if everything goes according to plan, so that's all I know about it. I don't have a degree in hip mechanics or whatever. There's a lot of things that get said where the expertise might be in question."
Teammates have predicted that Pitta will try to play football again because of his personality.
During his initial fracture and dislocation in training camp before last season, Pitta landed awkwardly in the back of the end zone while trying to make a contested catch after colliding with strong safety James Ihedigbo.
In that case, Pitta suffered significant trauma through the force of landing on his hip.