Terrell Suggs injury gives huge opportunity to courtney upshaw

Last weekend, the Ravens drafted Alabama linebacker Courtney Upshaw to complement Terrell Suggs, the 2011 NFL Defensive Player of the Year. But after todays  news, Upshaw might have to try to replace him  if not at his position then at least in terms of impact.Suggs has sustained an injury to his achilles tendon reportedly while playing basketball in Arizona. It could be a tweak or a partial tear. Or it could also be a full tear which would likely sideline him for all of 2012. Suggs will get checked out in a few days and the Ravens asked for caution as they await an answer.We are in contact with Terrell. He will see a specialist early next week and well know more at that time the team said in a news release. At the sun newsmaker forum Ravens director of player personnel Eric DeCosta said Its hard for rookies to play right away but he also added that given the draft status of Upshaw the teams first pick  who was taken early in the second round he was the rookie most likely to contribute right away.And as Ravens coach John Harbaugh obviously pointed out at a news conference Saturday You are always one play away from being a starter anyway. If the injury to Suggs is as serious as the Ravens fear they might have no choice but to rush Upshaw into the starting lineup. He was expected to compete with Paul Kruger for the starting strong-side linebacker job that used to belong to Jarret Johnson. Albert McClellan who played well as an undrafted rookie in 2011 and Sergio Kindle who is not guaranteed a roster spot for this season were also supposed to be in the mix.