The brother of Ed Reed is apparently missing after jumping into the Mississippi River to avoid police.
According to WWLTV.com in Louisiana, officers from the St. Charles Parish Sheriff's Office had been pursuing a man in St. Rose, La., Friday. Around 10 a.m., the man was seen jumping into the river.
The man is believed to be 29-year-old Brian Reed, Reed's younger brother, according to their mother. Karen Reed acknowledged that Brian Reed has struggled with drug and alcohol abuse.
A man who answered the telephone shortly before 5 p.m. at Karen Reed's home in Saint Rose and identified himself as Wendell Sanchez, the oldest of Reed's five brothers, said they had not heard anything from police. Police have not found the man nor have they confirmed his identity yet.
"We still have hope that it's not him," Sanchez said. "There's a window that he's OK."
Sanchez said that he's been in touch with his brother Ed and would continue to keep him up to date on the situation, but at this point there were no plans for the Ravens safety to travel to Louisiana.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh spoke briefly about Reed during a Friday night teleconference to discuss the hiring of his brother Jim as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers.
"We've been in contact as an organization," Harbaugh said. "All I want to say is, our thoughts and prayers are with the Reed family at this difficult itme. We're just praying for them. I love Ed Reed, I know he's fighting something now and hopefully it'll turn out OK."
Suggs, Ngata return
The Ravens' outlook improved with the likelihood that outside linebacker Terrell Suggs and defensive tackle Haloti Ngata will start in the team's AFC Wildcard game against the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday.
Both players returned to practice Friday on a limited basis after sitting out two days and are listed as questionable for Sunday's contest. Suggs wore a black sleeve on his right knee, but otherwise appeared fine. Similarly, Ngata did not seem limited by his thigh injury.
Suggs, who said he injured his knee in last Sunday's 13-7 win against the Cincinnati Bengals when a Bengals player cut-blocked him during a reverse in the first quarter, listed his status for Sunday as "50-50."
"I'm all right," he said after Friday's practice. "I thought I'd practice and see how it is, see how I felt. Right now, it's about 50-50. So I guess I'm going to let coach decide what to do come Sunday."
Suggs acknowledged that the attraction of playing in the postseason might accelerate his healing.
"I love the playoffs, the opportunity to go ahead and go for, in our case, the Holy Grail," he said. "I don't know. I guess we'll have to see how it feels Sunday."
Ngata said his thigh injury has improved since he, too, injured it against Cincinnati.
"I felt good," he said. "Went out there and practiced today. The body feels good and hopefully, I can continue to get better and then I'll be ready to play Sunday."
Coach John Harbaugh said giving both players time to recover on Wednesday and Thursday benefited them.
"I think [the rest] has been good for them," Harbaugh said. "I think we'll be OK."
Other injury news
Linebackers Tavares Gooden (dislocated left shoulder) and Dannell Ellerbe (head), free safety Ed Reed (ribs), cornerback Josh Wilson (head) and free safety Tom Zbikowski (bulging disk in back) have been limited the past two days and are also questionable.
Starting inside linebacker Jameel McClain (back) was upgraded from limited to full participation and is listed as probable. Joining him under that designation are wide receivers Derrick Mason (ankle) and David Reed (torn ligament in left wrist), left tackle Michael Oher (sprained right knee/ankle) and center Matt Birk (left knee).
For the Chiefs, starting left guard Brian Waters and wide receiver Quinten Lawrence practiced fully after missing the first two days because of illness. Both players are listed as probable.
Top wide receiver Dwayne Bowe was removed from the injury report.
Suggs gets fined
Suggs was fined $15,000 for punching Bengals wide receiver Jerome Simpson last Sunday.
An NFL spokesman confirmed Friday that Suggs was disciplined for striking Simpson in the face after Cincinnati left tackle Andrew Whitworth had ripped Suggs' helmet off late in the fourth quarter.
After the game, Suggs acknowledged punching Simpson.
Strength vs. strength
Sunday could take on a strength-vs.-strength feel between Kansas City's top-ranked rushing attack and the Ravens' fifth-ranked run defense.
"We love when teams like to run," Ngata said. "We'll see how it goes during the game, but if we can take away their best thing, then that's an advantage for us. Like I said earlier, we're hopeful we can do that and we can get to [quarterback Matt] Cassel instead of worrying about the run more."
