OWINGS MILLS - Offensive tackle Michael Oher is expected to be protecting quarterback Joe Flacco's blind side Sunday night despite a sprained right knee.

Oher practiced Wednesday with his knee heavily wrapped, but participated fully.

"I should be ready for Sunday," Oher said prior to practice. "I hope so."

Oher left the field briefly and then returned and didn't appear to have any difficulty performing blocking drills.

"Everything came back fine," Oher said. "I'm good. I definitely want to play. That's why the last couple of days I've been up here all day getting a lot of work in. I'm trying to get back out there."

Oher is balancing his priorities between practicing to get ready for this game and resting his knee to recuperate properly.

"It's 50-50," Oher said. "Both of them are important. You've got to be out there to get the game speed and reps in and get your plays down, but you also want to be 100 percent."

The magnitude of this game is a big factor.

"It's Pittsburgh, and it's Pittsburgh week," Oher said. "I love playing against my former teammate, Mike Wallace. This is our rival, and we're tied for first place with these guys and we want to beat them. It's definitely a big game."

The Ravens' offensive line fared well against Steelers outside linebackers James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley in the last meeting, a 17-14 win at Heinz Field.

"Woodley and Harrison, they're two great players," Oher said. "Just those two guys alone, just taking care of those guys, you got to play lights out against these guys.

"We did a lot of different things and they did a lot of different things. Hopefully, we come out and both do the same thing we did last game."