Lewis not focused on Jets’ Ryan, past

As the Ravens celebrated their dramatic victory in San Diego on Sunday, reliving Ray Lewis’(notes) game-ending stop in the cramped visitors’ locker room at Qualcomm Stadium, it occurred to me that it had also been a landmark afternoon for a man near and dear to their hearts.

While watching Terrell Suggs(notes) put the finishing touches on his postgame outfit – a gaudy gold, jewel-encrusted Star of David medallion that was the Pro Bowl pass rusher’s apparent acknowledgment of Rosh Hashanah – I asked if he was happy for Rex Ryan, the former Ravens defensive coordinator who earlier Sunday had coached the Jets to a 16-9 upset of the Patriots.

Before Suggs could answer, Lewis looked over from a nearby locker and treated my question like it was Darren Sproles(notes) on fourth-and-2.

“That’s dead to us, man,” Lewis said, shaking his head for emphasis. “That’s lastyear. We’re all about the here and now.”

It seemed like an extreme reaction, but upon reflection I understood Lewis’ point: Each year in the NFL is its own, separate entity, and the people who truly get that have a huge advantage over those who don’t. The ’08 Ravens, for example, rode a rookie coach (John Harbaugh) and a rookie quarterback (Joe Flacco(notes)) to a stunning AFC championship game appearance, and now their 10-time Pro Bowl middle linebacker is thinking even bigger.

I guarantee Lewis wasn’t amused late last month when, after a preseason game between the Ravens and Jets, New York linebacker Bart Scott(notes) – a former teammate who’d been wooed away in free agency – told reporters that Ryan “was the head coach of that football team last year, whether you guys know it or not.”

On a chilly Monday night last December, I sat in a suburban Baltimore bar with Lewis and got a clear indication of his views on leadership. Discussing the notion that he had to adjust to the no-nonsense Harbaugh after years of enjoying ample locker-room latitude under Brian Billick, Lewis laughed and said, “Let me tell you something: He had to adjust to me.”

He later told a story from the 2000 season about having literally taken Billick’s head in his hands and convincing him to swallow his pride and “do it my way” – a formula which led to the franchise’s lone Super Bowl championship.

“The bottom line is this,” Lewis said. “Players make plays. Coaches make decisions.”

So I suppose I can comprehend why Lewis, after having just made perhaps the most significant individual play of the young season, wasn’t eager to shift the focus to the feats of his former defensive coordinator.

In the here and now, the Jets are one of the teams competing with the Ravens for a possible AFC postseason run – and, less important, for positioning in our weekly top-to-bottom trip through the NFL, inquisition-style.

I can’t tell you who’ll prevail come February, but right now our list begins with the Ravens, who’ve allowed Flacco to trade in his learner’s permit for a real driver’s license and now seem to possess the offensive horsepower to take some of the burden off of Lewis and his defensive mates.

So say hello to our new No. 1 – or, as Suggs said just before leaving the locker room Sunday with his conspicuous bling, “Shalom.”



(sports.yahoo.com)