Haloti Ngata, the great defensive tackle for the Ravens, has recuperated from some minor surgery to repair a thigh muscle. I didn’t even remember his being hurt last year in any way that would have affected his game. But there it was in my inbox— a link to a report from Sarah Ellison of the Ravens just released that indeed Haloti was not at 100% for much of the 2011 season.
Father and child… the Ngata family is growing…
We knew Ngata was exhausted from the season, where he started all 18 games (16 regular season and two playoff games) and played through pain at the end of the year. But I did not realize how serious his thigh injury was…
“The year was probably the hardest, the worst I’ve felt at the end of the season,” he said. “We went further and I think I played more snaps last year than other years. This past season took a lot out of me. And that loss to New England just kind of sucked, so it took a little bit more.”
Ngata did have a procedure after the season, as he battled a thigh injury that held him out of practice at times during the year. Despite the injury, he still had a highly productive season, as he earned his third straight Pro Bowl nod and was a leader in the middle of a Ravens defense that finished second in the league against the run. He totaled 65 tackles, five sacks and three fumble recoveries throughout the season.
After taking time to recover, Ngata is now gearing up for this seventh NFL season. “I feel really good,” he said. “I’m just training and trying to eat healthy, communicating with the coaches.”
Part of Ngata’s goal for the offseason is to add some weight. He played at about 330 pounds last year, but would like to be closer to 340 pounds for this season. “I think I could probably push the pocket better with a little more weight,” he said. “We’ll see how it goes.”
Ngata has primarily been training in his offseason home of Salt Lake City, but he decided to come to the team’s facility in Owings Mills this week to work out and visit with the coaching staff. He also spent time talking with teammates and meeting some of the new rookies on the roster.
“I just wanted to come in for a week to see the coaches and let them see me, let them know I’ve been working out,” he said. “There’s a lot of new faces that you’ve got to get to know now. It’s fun to see the rookies wide eyed and excited, but also kind of nervous.”
“We are going to miss Terrell Suggs [OLB who is out with an Achilles surgical rehab in progress] but I think we’re always going to be a great defense. A lot of it has to do with the veterans helping out the rookies as much as they can, and the rookies doing their best trying to fill in that spot. I think we have a lot of guys that could do well. We’ll see what goes on during camp.”
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