Ravens outside linebacker Elvis Dumervil had what seems to be a clean-up procedure on his "foot area"* *this offseason, the veteran revealed Wednesday.
Dumervil did not go into detail about the exact procedure, which he had soon after the regular-season ended. He walked to the podium with his normal swagger, but no limp.
"Somewhere in my foot area where it was kind of lingering," Dumervil said. "Instead of coming into this season and having that lingering more, I was able to go in and get it fixed."
Dumervil is sitting out minicamp but expects to return at some point during training camp. For now, he wants to take care of his body and make sure he's in tip-top shape before gearing up for the 2016 season.
"Last season was brutal," Dumervil said, referring to injuries he played through.
"There are some things that I saw in the offseason that I had to get done that I thought was hurt but was injured. But I was able to go in and get that fixed to get myself in a positon like I am now feeling great going into this offseason to get better."
With Terrell Suggs returning from a torn Achilles, the Ravens' two veteran starting veteran pass rushers are both on the mend.
While Suggs went down in Week 1, Dumervil played all 16 games. He still posted a team-leading six sacks and went to his fifth Pro Bowl, but it was a drop-off from his 17-sack season the year before.
"You have a motto you go by; you don't feel sorry for yourself and you play in every game you can possibly play in," Dumervil said.
"No excuses. I didn't feel myself, and that's why I went ahead and got the procedure done. I feel a lot better and I'm excited to feel healthy again, which I don't take for granted. You treasure those moments when you feel good."
At 32 years old, Dumervil said the injuries didn't make him question whether he wants to continue playing football. He simply wants to limit his snaps every Sunday.
Dumervil played 813 defensive snaps last year, which was 100 more than the previous season when he tied his career-high in sacks. With more pass rushers expected in the rotation this year, including rookies Kamalei Correa and Matt Judon, Dumervil should be in more of a rotation instead of playing almost every snap.
