OWINGS MILLS -- The silence of Pro Bowl outside linebacker Terrell Suggs has been broken, which can be interpreted as an encouraging sign about the outlook for his strained Achilles' tendon and injured heel.

Cracking a big smile Tuesday after some admittedly grumpy moments where he didn't feel like talking while being sidelined for the majority of last month, the three-time Pro Bowl pass rusher predicted that he would play in the Ravens' preseason finale Thursday night against the Atlanta Falcons.

"Yeah, I'm going to go a little bit," Suggs said. "I'll try to get a few game reps, see how the heel is actually holding up... It's been a while but I'm a Raven and some things are just like riding a bike. I like to hit people. I like to play football, so it felt really good to get out there and get after it a little bit."

How little that winds up being is undetermined at this point with Ravens coach John Harbaugh calling Suggs "sort of a maybe" for the Atlanta game before Suggs revealed that he was going to play.

It could be a series, it could be a few snaps or the Ravens could push the envelope a bit and have Suggs play nearly an entire quarter.

The idea is for him to shed the rust accumulated from being out since Aug. 2 when he first suffered the injury in Westminster during training camp.

"I don't know," Suggs said. "It's something we're all going to decide, me and the coaches. We're going to decide how much I'm going to go. The overall picture is most definitely get out of the game healthy, don't have any setbacks and prepare for our NFL season."

Suggs just returned to practice Monday and has missed all three of the Ravens' prior preseason games with rookie second-round pick Paul Kruger starting in his place.

So far, the heel has held up through two practices. If a walkthrough today at the Ravens' training complex followed by warmup drills Thursday night at the Georgia Dome go well, then Suggs is liable to at least see limited action in Atlanta.

"It looks like it responded well," Harbaugh said. "There was probably some soreness in some different movements, but he's in good cardiovascular shape and he's really strong. He's done a good job training as much as you can, non-football.

"Like anything else, you've got to go to there and play football to be in 'football shape.' We need him to do that, and he'll tell you he needs to do that as much as he can right now. But I thought he looked good for the time he's been away."

Suggs hasn't lost his trademark sense of humor or his love for movies with the Clint Eastwood classic Western, "Unforgiven," looping over and over on the flat screen television in his locker during interviews.

When Suggs returned to practice Monday, his teammates pretended he was a stranger.

"It felt good to get back out there, I'm pretty much going off adrenaline," he said. "It was good being back out there with the guys. I got heckled a little bit. Everybody told me to introduce myself, because they didn't know who I was. They haven't seen me in a long time."

Suggs, 26, has never missed a regular-season game.

Signed to a six-year $62.5 million contract that's the richest linebacker deal in NFL history, Suggs has recorded 53 career sacks to rank second on the team's all-time list and registered a career-high 102 tackles last season.

Now, he's looking to gear up for the season by chasing around Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan.

"“It’s very important, because preseason is not like the regular season," Suggs said.  "Offenses, they’re not running things that they usually run. So, it’s always good to get in there and get some reps, get NFL football ready, game ready.”

Aaron Wilson covers the Baltimore Ravens for the Carroll County Times and the Annapolis Capital.