Ravens' Joe Flacco: Nearing medical clearance

Flacco (back) has thrown passes each of the last two days, and coach John Harbaugh said Tuesday that he's close to being medically cleared for practice, Ryan Mink of the team's official site reports. "He's moving toward practice," said Harbaugh. "When the doctors clear him, which we don't know the date or when that's going to happen right now. We believe it's going to be real soon, in time to prepare for Cincinnati and he'll be out there."

Flacco's lengthy rehab from an offseason back injury has raised some questions regarding his availability for Week 1, but Harbaugh's comments Tuesday suggest that the veteran quarterback is likely to be ready for the season opener even without much in the way of practice under his belt. Flacco resumed throwing and did some "football movements" each of the last two days, which moves him closer to being medically cleared. The Ravens begin their season Sept. 10, so even if Flacco is cleared in the near future, he'd have less than two full weeks of practice under his belt heading into the opener.