Lewis says skills aren't eroding

WESTMINSTER, Md. — It would be easy to assume that Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis is not as fast as he used to be and that he does not deliver those punishing hits like he once did.

Then, a rookie running back like Ray Rice tries to pull a juke move while going up the middle at the Ravens training camp.

Wham!

Lewis makes his usual thunderous introduction.

Lewis might be 33 and heading toward the twilight of his NFL career, but he is not ready to cave in to Father Time easily.

In fact, he thinks he still has a lot of football left in his tank as he enters the final year of his contract.

“One thing I always say is that if you’re older, then there’s a lot of wisdom and a lot of knowledge, and if you take care of your body, with the longevity of this game, you can play as long as you want,” Lewis said.

There were rumblings last season that Lewis had lost a step, despite leading the team in tackles for the 10th time in his career with 120.
Lewis has a quick answer for those who believe his skills have diminished.

“All I have to do is invite them into my defense,” said Lewis, a nine-time Pro Bowl choice. “We were the only defense who didn’t see a 100-yard rusher last year. So, we are OK with that.

“So, inviting people to come see me up the middle is not a good thing to do. Most of the time, they are just trying to get away from me.”

It has been that way since the Ravens drafted Lewis out of the University of Miami in the first round in 1996, the team’s first year after moving from Cleveland.

The Ravens also drafted offensive tackle Jonathan Ogden that year. He retired after last season.

While Ogden has watched some of preseason camp from the sideline, Lewis remains in the middle of it all, imploring the Ravens defense to keep up its intensity and doing his best to confuse the three quarterbacks vying for the starting job, including former University of Delaware star Joe Flacco.

Then there are the countless lessons he teaches to young players like Rice.

“I told Ray Rice that [running] north and south wins,” Lewis said. “If you see me in that hole, bouncing [outside] sometimes works, but in this business it doesn’t. Never go east and west.

“It’s a little thing like that that you can teach these younger guys.”

John Harbaugh, in his first season as Ravens head coach, feels like he has an extra coach in the defensive huddle.

“It’s great to have the opportunity to coach a football team that Ray Lewis is on,” Harbaugh said. “Just watching practice, you see why he is one of the all-time greats, why he’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer and why he believes he has a lot of football left in him. Because he does.”

Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan laughed when he thought back to the team’s first mandatory camp in May.

“It was funny; when he could have held himself [out] and wasn’t really going to practice, he was going to do individual drills [only],” Ryan said. “Then, when we called 11-on-11, he couldn’t help himself. He had to jump out there.

“I think he just wanted for all the new coaches to see that, hey, this is Ray Lewis. He made some spectacular plays, like we always have seen.” To Ryan, Lewis is a freak of nature.

“I know eventually he’s going to have to slow down,” Ryan said. “I just don’t see it happening in the near future. He looks tremendous. He is in great shape, and that age is just a number right now.”

(delawareonline.com)