Marshal Yanda had surgery on his right shoulder four years ago. Now he's back at it again, rehabbing after having surgery on his left shoulder earlier this offseason.
The surgery has held one of the Ravens' best players out of Organized Team Activities and minicamp practices, but Yanda still reported to the Under Armour Performance Center this week feeling good about his progress.
"I'll be ready to go. Haven't had any setbacks. It's been a smooth process," the six-time Pro Bowler said.
Ready to go when? Training camp?
"I don't know yet. We'll see what happens," Yanda said. "I'll let you talk to [Head] Coach [John] Harbaugh on that one. I can just tell you, Week 1, I'll be out there. How about that?"
Yanda is lifting weights and has been increasing that weight every day. It's still a painful process, but it's at least one that Yanda has been through before. And he said this rehab is going better than the one on his right shoulder in 2013.
Nothing will stop Yanda from playing. For any normal player, or offensive lineman, Yanda's shoulder injury would have sent them to injured reserve. Instead, Yanda missed just three games and came up with the idea of switching from right guard to left guard to help relieve some of the pain.
Amazingly, Yanda still performed at a Pro Bowl level despite playing out of position for the final seven games. He was graded as the top guard in the NFL by Pro Football Focus for a third straight year, and it wasn't even close.
Yanda's never one to make excuses or flatter himself. He downplayed the switch during last season. On Wednesday, he finally admitted that it was difficult – much more difficult than bumping out to right tackle. His "power-producing angles," especially in run blocking, were all different, meaning what used to be muscle memory had to be re-taught.
"It was definitely one of the toughest things I've done," Yanda said.
"I was happy to finish it that way rather than to go on IR and get the surgery then. It was nice to go down fighting. Obviously, we didn't finish what we wanted to do last year, but I at least wanted to die trying to do it."
Yanda will turn 33 years old this season and is entering his 11th season after being a third-round pick in 2007. He's played through countless injuries over the years, which led to the question Wednesday of whether the thought of how many years he has left has entered his mind.
"No. You just hope that it's going to heal and you're going to be good to go for the season," Yanda said.
Yanda said he was "lucky" that he hadn't needed surgery in four years: "I had a good run, and I was probably due."
"Part of the process of playing football is injuries and rehab. Unfortunately, that's just kind of the game," Yanda explained. "But it doesn't change your approach, it doesn't bother me."
