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Ravens offensive tackle Jared Gaither just isn’t sure when he’ll be able to play again, although he has been lifting weights and running as he continues his recovery from a back injury.
After visiting several specialists, Gaither was diagnosed with an injury in his thoracic disc, which caused back spasms and forced him out of practice since Aug. 5.
“It’s really hard with this type of injury, as I’ve been told,” Gaither said. “As soon as you feel better, you just want to go out there and play. I’m looking forward to doing that, but I pretty much couldn’t tell you. That’s just how the injury is.
“As soon as I get better, I’ll get out there. You can believe that.”
However long Gaither is out, the Ravens would insert either Oniel Cousins or Tony Moll into the starting lineup as their right tackle. There was hope that Gaither could practice this week in anticipation of the Ravens’ regular-season opener, but that now seems unlikely.
Cousins, who has been battling a concussion, did some light work in the Ravens’ non-contact practice on Monday.
“I’m ready to roll. I feel pretty good moving around and practicing,” said Cousins, who expects to be fully cleared by doctors on Tuesday. “It was more of a mental thing, but overall I feel pretty good. Whenever the coaches want, I’ll be ready to go.”
There was concern whether Gaither lost too much weight in the offseason, as he dropped from approximately 340 pounds to 311 by the time training camp began.
Now, Gaither said he is around a more-comfortable 330 pounds, but still feels agile.
“I’m right around my old weight,” said Gaither, who was also plagued by a foot injury during organized team activities. “To me, that really wasn’t a concern. It wasn’t that hard to put the weight back on, because I know what I did to lose the weight. Really, the weight’s back there, and I’m really trying to get healthy enough in my back to get back on the field.”
Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh is also unsure of Gaither’s status, stating, “We’ll just have to see where he’s at and how he feels in the next couple days,” when asked about Gaither’s progress.
