When he isn’t trying to sack quarterbacks, Cardinals outside linebacker Terrell Suggs dabbles in movie production, acting and screenwriting.

Given that, he was asked Friday morning what he thought of a storyline centered around a NFL veteran in his 17th season playing a game against a team and in a city where he spent the previous 16?

Too cliché?

As is often the case with Suggs, his answer was unusual.

“It’s a good narrative, so to say. Just last night I was watching ‘Bridge of Spies.’ They were like, ‘How will I know if you’re all right?’ And he was like, ‘If I’m embraced as a brother or am I just showed the backseat.’

“I think we’re all clear that for three hours come Sunday, they are my opponent. I am their opponent. The are my opponent. They’re going to try to win. I’m going to try to win. After the game, we’ll see if I’m showed the backseat or embraced as a brother.”

What’s missing from the script that will play out Sunday in Baltimore is any antagonism between Suggs and his old team, the Ravens, and their fans.

Suggs, who played at Chandler Hamilton High and ASU, had 132.5 sacks for the Ravens, who drafted him 10th overall in 2003. By all accounts, teammates, coaches and fans loved him.

And it’s not like the Ravens were ready to part ways with their all-time leader in sacks, even though Suggs turns 37 next month. They wanted him back and were surprised when Suggs chose to sign a one-year contract worth $7 million with the Cardinals.

Suggs has yet to detail his reasons for choosing the Cardinals, saying only that it was time and that Arizona has always been home.

“To see his face on the scouting report is pretty funny; it’s crazy,” said Ravens guard Marshall Yanda said this week. “Football is No. 1 for him. He played at a high level, and he continues to do so. He’s a great role model for anybody, let alone just in this organization. Like I said, he was one of our pillars.”

Even though he’s been a Cardinals only since March, Suggs has made a similar impression on his Cardinals teammates and coaches. Coach Kliff Kingsbury was impressed that Suggs showed up to the first team meeting last spring with a notebook and pen.

“You have a guy coming from college to coach in the NFL and he’s been in it for 16 years and he’s taking notes on everything I’m saying,” Kingsbury said. “He just does everything right and plus brings that spirit to the locker room and practice field every day. He’s been a huge addition for us.”

Suggs has always had a big personality. He nicknamed himself “T-Sizzle” and at one time liked to say he was from “Ball So Hard University.” During practices and meetings, no one ever has to ask where “Sizz” is because they can usually hear him.

On day at training camp last month, Suggs proclaimed out loud that he thought left tackle D.J. Humphries was a funny guy. Humphries acted like he had been named to the Pro Bowl.

“You know how in those old school movies they get knighted?” Humphries said this week. “I felt like I got knighted in front of all y’all (reporters). Y’all were the witnesses.”

MORE:Arizona Cardinals at Baltimore Ravens: Scouting report, prediction

In a conference call with Arizona reporters this week, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson said Suggs used to talk trash to him in practice, calling him mediocre.

That surprises no one who has worked with Suggs.

“Terrell don’t stop talking the whole day,” Humphries said. “The whole day is non-stop. Any day that I come out and Terrell is not talking, I know that, ‘All right, I’m about to get some game reps right now. Let me buckle my damn chin strap.’ ”

Cardinals tight end Maxx Williams played four years in Baltimore with Suggs and calls him one of his favorite teammates because of how much Suggs loves football and having fun.

“He brings that energy and he brings everyone else up with him,” Williams said.

Williams isn’t even offended that Suggs has called him “Monty” from the time they met.

“He’s got half of this training room calling me Monty,” Williams said from the Cardinals facility last week. “It (the name) was in a movie. He said I looked like a guy named Monty in a movie.”

But he knows your name is Maxx, Williams was asked.

“Maybe,” Williams said. “The only time he says ‘Maxx’ is if I’m not paying attention.”

What Suggs accomplished in Baltimore likely will earn him induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame one day, but his time wasn’t without controversy. There were allegations of domestic abuse, but no criminal charges were ever filed. At times, his relationship with some members of the media was contentious.

That has never been the case with teammates or coaches. They don't have a bad word to say about Suggs, and that relationship is one reason the Cardinals brought Suggs back to Arizona.

They not only needed a pass rusher to pair with Chandler Jones, they also wanted a veteran presence who could help the franchise bounce back from a 3-13 season.

It also helps that Suggs apparently can still play.

With Suggs and receiver Larry Fitzgerald, who turned 36 in August, the Cardinals have two freaks of nature. Both produced in week one. Fitzgerald had 8 catches for 113 yards and a touchdown. Suggs had two sacks and forced a fumble.

“I obviously have tremendous affection, many amazing, great memories, many laughs, some tears and just some great moments,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said of Suggs. "They say when you do some of the things we were able to do together as a group, you walk together forever. I think that definitely holds true, except for three hours on Sunday.”

Suggs isn’t sure how he will feel in the moments before and after those three hours. To him, it’s not a coincidence that his return to Baltimore is coming in the Ravens home opener.

“NFL, boy they really are clever,” he said. “Like I said, it’s a good storyline. Fun. And we’re going to see what happens.”

Reach Kent Somers at Kent.Somers@gannett.com. Follow him on twitter @kentsomers. Hear him every Monday and Friday between 7 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. on The Drive with Jody Oehler on Fox Sports 910 AM.

Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today.