Baltimore’s Nnamdi Madubuike won’t play this weekend, but Minter says he’s ‘really, really close’

OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — Baltimore defensive lineman Nnamdi Madubuike will not play in the Ravens’ opener Sunday at Indianapolis.

“Nnamdi is not going to play this game,” coach Jesse Minter said Friday. “He is really, really close. It has been a great process for him to return from the injury that he had, feel great about where he is at, but we are not going to play him this week.”

Madubuike missed most of last season with a neck injury, and for a while it was unclear if he would return at all, but he made the 53-man roster — the Ravens didn’t put him on injured reserve — and it appears he’ll be back on the field fairly soon. Baltimore even made him available to reporters Friday even though he won’t be playing.

“There are a lot of rumors out there, but I always knew I was going to be back,” said Madubuike, a two-time Pro Bowler. “It was just a process of coming back just like any other injury. This was my time in which I had to deal with it. I went through it, and now we are here.”

Madubuike signed a four-year contract to stay with the Ravens before the 2024 season. His absence last season hurt Baltimore’s pass rush and its run defense. He has 30 sacks in six years with Baltimore, including 13 in 2023.

Madubuike passed his physical in late July, but even this week he’s been limited in practice.

“There is no way to get back in football shape until you are out there playing football over and over and over again. You can run all the hills you want. You can run all the down-and-backs,” he said. “When you are out there on the football field for the first time, you are just like, ‘Ooh, this is actually a little tiring.’ I am getting back in that groove and getting back in my zone again. I am in a great place right now.”

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