Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs got off to a great start last season, recording nine sacks in the season’s first eight games, but he was a big part of the team-wide fade in the second half that resulted in their Super Bowl title defense ending without a trip to the playoffs.
Suggs had one sack in the final eight weeks and said Wednesday that “finishing strong” is a focus for him and the rest of the team as they make their way toward the 2014 season. One way that Suggs plans to do that is altering his diet and training to make sure that he doesn’t put on as much weight as he did down the stretch last year.
“It gets a little cold and you gain a little weight,” Suggs said, via the team’s website. “I probably put on a little too much weight down the stretch. That’s one of my big focusses going into this year is to keep my weight down so I can have a strong finish.”
The Ravens would seem to be believers in Suggs’ ability to turn things back around after the unhappy way that the second half of the season played out. They signed Suggs to a four-year extension early in the offseason and guaranteed him $16 million over the next two years, ensuring that Suggs, slimmed down or otherwise, will play a major role in the defense in his 12th NFL season and beyond.
