Sergio Kindle didn’t have words to explain how happy he felt after playing in his first regular-season NFL game against the New York Jets, even if he didn’t have too much of an impact.



“I think happy is an understatement,” the second-year outside linebacker said. “You’d have to put happy, ecstatic, excited all together and get one word. That’s it.”

After missing all last season with a head injury suffered when falling down a flight of stairs on the eve of his first training camp, Kindle has had a long, turbulent journey to start his career.

Not only did he have to reset his physical development, but he’s also still learning the game and the Ravens’ defense. That left Kindle inactive for Baltimore’s first three games.

Kindle’s family, in the stands for the first time Sunday night at M&T Bank Stadium, encouraged him through the start of the season.

“Everybody was saying, ‘Stay patient. You’ve got to be patient on certain things, but your time is coming,’” Kindle said. “It’s great timing.”

As Head Coach John Harbaugh said, it’s not that Kindle wasn’t ready to play. It’s just that he brings as much to the table as the players ahead of him – at this time.

The opportunity presented itself against the Jets because all seven of Baltimore’s inactive slots were filled by injured players, meaning every healthy player suited up.

Kindle’s main role was on kickoff coverage, but due to the lopsided score, he also saw some time on defense late in the game.

The Texas product had two pass rushes and said he came within an arm’s length of quarterback Mark Sanchez when blitzing off the edge. Kindle felt he could have had a sack had he gotten a better jump off the snap.

“He’s a young player. He did a nice job in kickoff coverage and ran down there hard. He had a couple of plays at the end and really brought it in the pass rush,” Harbaugh said.

“That’s a good first step for him to get his feet wet, and it will be fun to see how he can respond to that, because sometimes when you play a game, now you’ve got a little different perspective as far as practice and developing your game a little bit.”