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Ravens rookie tight end Charlie Kolar will undergo sports hernia surgery and could miss several weeks.
Kolar, a fourth-round draft pick out of Iowa State, will have the surgery early next week, Ravens coach John Harbuagh said after Thursday’s training camp practice. Kolar had a sports hernia that required surgery in 2020 and Harbaugh described the injury as “lingering from college.”
Kolar has not practiced since rookies reported to Owings Mills for training camp last week.
“We’ll get it cleaned up now,” Harbaugh said. “Would’ve loved to have got it cleaned up earlier, but we didn’t have it earlier. I think he felt like he could manage it, but it’s gotten to the point where it needs to be fixed.”
Harbaugh likened the injury to what wide receiver Rashod Bateman dealt with last August when he had groin surgery. Bateman missed the preseason and the first five weeks of the regular season before making his debut in a Week 6 win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
Harbaugh did not predict how long Kolar would be out, but a 2017 study published in the Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine found that NFL players who undergo the surgery during the season (excluding the last month) return in about two months, on average.
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A quiet communicator in the center
As a center, first-round draft pick Tyler Linderbaum is required to be communicative. That doesn’t necessarily translate off the field, though.
“He doesn’t say a lot,” Harbaugh said. “I say hi to him, sometimes he says hi back, sometimes he’s in a center world. He’s thinking about blitzes.”
Linderbaum said that’s how he’s always been. Harbaugh praised the 25th overall pick in the draft and said he’s seldom made mistakes thus far.
“It’s been awesome,” Linderbaum said of beginning his pro career. “It’s a blessing to be here in Baltimore.
A ‘baby Mark’
Quarterback Lamar Jackson found rookie tight end Isaiah Likely for a 55-yard touchdown pass Thursday and later compared him to Mark Andrews, calling him a “baby Mark.”
Likely, at 6 feet 4 and 235 pounds, was drafted in the fourth round out of Coastal Carolina.
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“He’s got a catch radius,” Harbaugh said. “You can see it. He can go get passes that aren’t right in the spot, and he can extend and go get ‘em.”
Extra points
>> It remains to be seen who will be the Ravens starting left guard, and Harbaugh said Thursday that “it’s gotta resolve itself.” Ben Powers, Tyre Phillips and Ben Cleveland, who has not practiced yet after being placed on the nonfootball injury list, are vying for the job.
“You want the decision to be made for you,” Harbaugh said, “in terms of someone taking the job, taking the bull by the horns and owning the job.”
>> Justin Houston did not consider retirement this offseason. The 33-year-old linebacker considered other teams in the offseason before ultimately re-signing with the Ravens.
Said Houston: “I got too much juice to walk away.”
>> Harbaugh called Vince Biegel, the 29-year-old linebacker signed by the Ravens in the offseason an “underrated talent.”
“Vince Biegel’s a consummate pro. Knows what he’s doing, great communicator, chases perfection with his technique every single play, very physical player,” Harbaugh said.