"Doubts may have been raised about the speed of his recovery, but Donte' Stallworth's determination to return after the Ravens' bye week hasn't wavered.

"It's going good," Stallworth said of his rehabilitation a couple of weeks ago. "I'm making progress every day. I feel like I'm right on schedule, and I'm feeling pretty good. So I'm looking forward to getting in after that bye week. That was the initial target date, and that's still the target date. Hopefully, everything goes as planned."

Barring a setback, Stallworth could play against the Miami Dolphins on Nov. 7. Coach John Harbaugh, however, hedged on confirming that possibility.

"I don't know yet," Harbaugh said. "I think he's got a good chance to be [in that game]. He thinks he's going to be. So we'll keep our fingers crossed."

Stallworth broke the fifth metatarsal in his left foot while running a route in the team's third preseason game against the New York Giants on Aug. 28 and underwent surgery nine days later.

He's been running and lifting weights, and he made his first appearance on the practice field since the preseason when he participated in a few positional drills Oct. 21.

"Everything's been week by week so far," he said. "They pretty much give me a plan for the week and then I go out there and progress towards that goal. Pretty much, I've made all of my expectations and surpassed some of the goals as well. Every day is a progression of its own, and we're going week by week."

Stallworth's presence could inject the offense with a downfield threat who can force opposing defenses to play deeper and give teammates Anquan Boldin, Derrick Mason and T.J. Houshmandzadeh space to work short and intermediate routes.

"As you know, he's an explosive guy," Harbaugh said. "He's a strong runner with the ball. He's got the speed element, obviously. That always helps. He's kind of a little different than the other three that are playing mostly right now, so that should help us."

This season, the offense has recorded just two catches of 40 yards or more, which is tied with eight other teams for 20th in the NFL. Since he joined the league in 2002, Stallworth's 13 receptions of at least 40 yards trails only Boldin's 20 among the Ravens players.

"Everybody knows Donte' is a fast guy," said Boldin, who leads the team in catches (38), yards (518) and touchdowns (5). "He's able to stretch the field. He just brings another playmaker to the offense."

The unenviable task of distributing the ball among those four receivers falls on quarterback Joe Flacco, who seemed to take the responsibility in stride."