After being a full participant in Thursday's practice, Teddye Buchanan was asked how he felt. The smile on his face answered the question.
"Great," Buchanan said. "I've been thinking about where I've been throughout my whole rehab process. To be out here practicing again with my teammates? To get my body right again? It's a good feeling."
Buchanan didn't say whether he will play Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys, but a report from CBS Sports' Matt Zenitz indicated he will.
Buchanan's grueling rehab work has paid off. He tore his ACL on Dec. 14 against the Cincinnati Bengals, ending an impressive rookie season in which he earned a starting job and finished third on the team with 93 tackles.
Adding Buchanan to an inside linebacker rotation that includes Roquan Smith and Trenton Simpson would give Head Coach Jesse Minter even more options and depth. Simpson is playing the best football of his career, while Smith is a perennial All-Pro.
Meanwhile, Pro Bowl defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike could also make his return Sunday, making the front seven as complete as it's been this season.
"You keep getting these tremendous players back for health reasons — it is almost like you traded for great players," Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver said.
"Teddye has been great. Out here on the practice field he has looked like his old self. I showed a couple of plays of him today to the defense just chasing what we are looking for. It's a beautiful problem to have when you have the backers that we do."
Suffering a serious knee injury was a physical and mental challenge, but Buchanan was determined to shorten the timetable for his return. He attacked rehab as relentlessly as he pursued ball carries. General Manager Eric DeCosta said Buchanan had one of the "top 1% of rehabs" he's ever witnessed in 30 years.
Buchanan said there were times when the Ravens' training staff had to prevent him from pushing too hard, but he offered no apologies for his passion.
"It was an emotional time hurting my knee," Buchanan said. "But it gets to a point where no one's going to feel sorry for you. The only way I was going to become a better version of myself was to attack the rehab. That's my mindset and will continue to be my mindset as I go through whatever adversity I face during my career."
Buchanan and Madubuike had conversations during the offseason, trying to uplift each other through difficult times. Players who are injured can feel lost as the games go on without them.
"Not being able to be with the guys, you feel left out," Buchanan said. "You understand the circumstances, but you feel like you're letting the team down.
"Nnamdi's circumstance makes mine seem easy. Getting to pick his brain helped my perspective and not feel like I was alone in what I was going through."
In addition to playing linebacker, Buchanan contributed on special teams as a rookie and his energy was infectious. There have been some tackling issues for the Ravens during their first two games, and Buchanan is one of the team's best at taking the proper angle in the open field.
Putting on his uniform and returning to action is something Buchanan has thought about for months. He'll let the coaching staff figure out where he fits in, but he's looking forward to making the linebacker group even stronger.
"Trent is playing great ball right now," Buchanan said. "It's really cool to see the way he's been playing in this new system.
"It's exciting for us as a group. The more, the merrier. Ro being Ro, the best linebacker in the game and the quarterback of the defense, it's exciting to have that amount of talent in the room."
