Baltimore Ravens defensive lineman Nnamdi Madubuike, who had neck surgery in April, is nearing a return to the field.

Madubuike, 28, has been cleared to practice by independent spine and cervical doctors, sources say. The Ravens placed him on the active physically unable to perform list on Saturday, giving them time to assess his conditioning and acclimate his return to the field. If all goes well, the expectation is that Madubuike will be activated from the PUP list as early as next week and begin practice. The Ravens’ first full-squad practice is Wednesday.

The news should accelerate a return that was in doubt for much of the past 10 months. Madubuike’s status has been the subject of much speculation since he missed all but two games last season because of a neck injury that neither the team nor the player ever offered specifics on. Madubuike’s last game was against the Cleveland Browns in Week 2, and he was placed on injured reserve Sept. 27.

Adding to the long-term concern, team officials repeatedly declined to address Madubuike’s status, saying it was up to him to comment. Madubuike hasn’t spoken to reporters since the injury. The two-time Pro Bowler, however, spent much of the offseason working out at the team facility and pushing for a return.

Madubuike and his team have visited and consulted with specialists throughout the process, but the final hurdle was getting clearance from the Ravens’ medical team. That seemed near last week when Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta told local radio station 105.7 The Fan that Madubuike’s status was “pointed in the right direction.”

A healthy Madubuike is a hugely important addition for Baltimore. When healthy, he’s been one of the better interior defensive linemen in the NFL with an ability to rush the quarterback and be stout against the run. The Ravens rewarded him with a four-year, $98 million deal following a 2023 season in which he had 13 sacks. Two years later, he’s still the NFL’s seventh-highest-paid interior defensive lineman.

The Ravens defense fell on hard times last year, and a significant part of that was Madubuike’s absence. They struggled to get to the quarterback, finishing with 30 sacks. Only two teams had fewer. They also never could consistently get off the field, particularly in the fourth quarter.

It won’t be all on Madubuike to fix those issues. The Ravens replaced longtime head coach John Harbaugh with Jesse Minter, who has been a highly successful defensive coordinator at the college and NFL levels. They signed outside linebacker Trey Hendrickson, defensive end Calais Campbell and safety Jaylinn Hawkins in free agency and then used a second-round pick on outside linebacker Zion Young.

The defensive picture, however, would have been incomplete if Madubuike was unable to return. He hasn’t been on the field with his teammates since last September, so there certainly will be rust to knock off. He also figures to have mental and physical hurdles to jump in returning from an injury that threatened to derail his career.

However, his imminent return to the practice field is about as good of news as the Ravens could get as they prepare for training camp to begin.

On Saturday, the Ravens also placed nose tackles Travis Jones (pectoral) and John Jenkins (undisclosed), linebacker Teddye Buchanan (knee), outside linebacker Adisa Isaac (elbow) and cornerback Bilhal Kone (knee) on the PUP list. Jones, who led the team with five sacks last year, had surgery this season. He’s expected to return to practice relatively early in training camp. The Ravens also placed center Corey Bullock on the non-football illness list.

While Agyarko was now enjoying much more success than before, there was still a sense he could have upped it a little more as Kelly was doing enough to break even and while both raised their fist in triumph at the final bell, it was Kelly who got the nod.

“I thought it was close going into the fifth or sixth, could have been one up to him or level,” Agyarko said.

“In the second half when I started holding my feet and letting my hands go, I think I took over. He had the point taken off as well.

“No excuses from me, I wasn’t good enough tonight and I lost. Well done to Josh – he’s a great champion, very tricky and awkward. I did think I won but it wasn’t good enough for the judges and I have no complaints.”

Kelly’s win was his ninth in succession following his sole career reverse in 2021 to David Avanesyan and he had words of encouragement for the Belfast man after what he described a “messy, hard fight”.

“Don’t take it as a loss, take it as a learn,” said Kelly.

“That was a huge fight for him, his second 12-round fight and he learned a lot in there. He’ll come back but has to show how much he wants it, bounce back from his loss like I did five or six years ago. That’s the true heart of a champion.”

Defending champion Luke Littler strolled into the World Matchplay final with a 17-5 demolition of unseeded Dirk van Duijvenbode in Blackpool.

The world number one raced in an 8-2 advantage and was averaging 117.10 and on course to beat Phil Taylor’s tournament match average record of 114.99

Littler admitted afterwards that distracted him and his level did drop slightly as he finished with an average just below 111.

However, that leaves him well placed to beat Taylor’s tournament average of 106.31, with Littler’s currently at 110.88.

The teenager’s victory also means he has now amassed more than £3m in the PDC’s order of merit, and is more than £2m clear of world number two Luke Humphries.

Littler will face Wales’ Gerwyn Price in Sunday’s final after he beat Netherlands’ Gian van Veen 17-10.

Sunday’s final gets under way at 20:05 BST, with the Women’s World Matchplay taking place in the afternoon session from 13:00 – Beau Greaves and defending champion Lisa Ashton the top two seeds.