Matt Birk

Like Ed Reed, Matt Birk has a decision to make about his future with the Ravens. And like the free safety, the 15-year center declined to say whether he envisioned playing out the final two years of his contract. “I don't know,” he said. “I'm worried about what I'm going to eat at dinner tonight. I don't make any decision until I have to. That's my motto.” Birk, 36, made his 113th consecutive start in Sunday's 24-9 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Wildcard playoff round.

On Friday, Ravens coach John Harbaugh didn't sound optimistic that Matt Birk would be available for Thursday night's preseason opener at the Atlanta Falcons. But the 36-year-old center said Saturday that he is holding out hope that he might be able to play Thursday. “I hope I don't” miss the game, Birk said after the team's practice at M&T Bank Stadium on Saturday. “We talked today, and although you can't predict the future, I hope I don't. My goal is to be out there.” Birk confirmed Harbaugh's diagnosis that back spasms have shelved him for the past six days.

Matt Birk's goals at first were simple. There was no thought of having a long and productive NFL career. He had no visions of making Pro Bowl teams or annually competing for championships. As a sixth-round pick out of Harvard, Birk was consumed by the fight to keep his job through each day. "I remember my first training camp, I was just about crying myself to sleep," said Birk, the Ravens' center. "I was like, 'Man, this is hard. There's no way I'm going to make it.' You're always fighting for your job, but my first two years, I was just fighting to prove that I belonged as a backup.

Matt Birk is the new center for the Baltimore Ravens. He is a big man - 6 foot-4 and 309 pounds - working in a beefy world, so it is not surprising that a large, ground sirloin burger sandwiched between two slices of thick bacon is one of his favorite foods. "I like almost anything with bacon on it," Birk told me. The recipe for this "two-fisted burger," so called because it takes two hands to grasp it, bears Birk's endorsement in the new "Morton's The Cookbook," published by the Morton's restaurant group.

The Ravens reached a one-year agreement Sunday with five-time Pro Bowl center Andre Gurode, increasing questions about Matt Birk's availability for the season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Birk, the Ravens' starting center for the past two seasons, didn't play this preseason after having knee surgery Aug. 3. He didn't participate in the team's only practice since the preseason finale. Gurode, 33, is the best insurance policy the Ravens could have gotten at center.

It took Ray Lewis a long time to put his suit on after the AFC championship was over on Sunday. He got dressed in silence, he made sure his tie was straight and his jacket wasn't wrinkled. Then, he stood in the eye of a small media storm, smiled into the cameras, and put to bed questions about his future. "Is this my last game as a Raven? Absolutely not," Lewis said. "Let me answer that question before somebody asks it. " Lewis wanted to quash any talk of retirement right away, especially since the topic has been a popular one in recent weeks and months.

He may plug the middle of the Ravens' offensive line, but Matt Birk's life has always been more off-center. In high school, Birk went out for the golf team before trying football. The road to the pros took him through Harvard. And, after signing his first contract, he moved in with ... his parents. The only conventional thing about Birk is his unconventionality. During team breakfasts at the Ravens' complex, he eats granola brought from home. He is donating his brain to science, to help shed light on sports concussions.

Matt Birk doesn't talk much about the pain in the surgically-repaired left knee that continues to trouble him. But the 14-year center's high threshold for pain isn't lost on his teammates. "That guy is one of the toughest guys on the team, to be able to fight through that injury," right guard Marshal Yanda said. "That's nagging him every day. You'd like to say it's getting better, but one thing is, he fights through it, and his play doesn't drop off on Sundays. He's one of the guys who makes this team run. " Said left tackle Bryant McKinnie: "He doesn't really say too much.

Let's get the last name out of the way first. It's Juszczyk. Somehow, from that lonely vowel and thicket of consonants, comes a pronunciation of YOOZ-check. Don't feel bad if you don't say it right the first time. No one ever does. No, check that. One guy did. "We had a Polish card-swiper at our dining hall" at Harvard, said Kyle Juszczyk, the rookie fullback the Ravens selected in the fourth round (130th overall) of the NFL draft. "And he actually nailed it on the first try. But he's the only one. " Instead, Juszczyk picked up a nickname that made life simpler.