Joe Flacco says Ray Lewis should know better

Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco said that his former teammate, Ray Lewis, “knows better” than to suggest an off-the-field incident is result of a leadership void within the team.

Responding to comments the former linebacker and current ESPN broadcaster made on Monday, Flacco said: “It is what it is. Ray knows better than that. Things happen. I think we’re usually a pretty good team with stuff like that. If you look around the league, there are probably a lot of leadership problems then. Like I said, Ray knows better.”

Lewis’ comments came before the Denver Broncos-Oakland Raiders game Monday night and were a reaction to wide receiver-kick returner Jacoby Jones getting hit in the head by a bottle after left tackle Bryant McKinnie’s 34th birthday party in Washington, D.C.      

“We talk about the transition of losing so many guys, a guy like myself and Ed Reed and other guys that are based off leadership. I've said it earlier: 'Where would the leadership come from?'“ Lewis said. “Because the leadership being strong in the locker room and winning games. Listen, talent sometimes can win you games. But when you talk about what's going on off the field, that's the most important place where leadership steps up.

“When you think about the Baltimore Ravens and the transition that they went through, they're missing leadership right now. When you have an incident like that, the first thing a leader is going to do is find some way to dissolve everything that's going on and actually dissolve it before it comes to that type of head or even gets to that point. When you talk about the Baltimore Ravens they're going to have to refocus and find some quick leaders in that locker room very quickly.”

Flacco, however, downplayed the incident.

“When you get the information of what happened, it is what it is,” Flacco said. “You laugh about it kind of. It’s funny, some of the things that we deal with. I don’t really have too many comments on it because they’d all be taken the wrong way and out of context. It’s not really an issue.”

Asked if it was funny because Lewis, who was just inducted in the Ravens Ring of Honor on Sunday, was the one who said it, Flacco said: “Ray is one of them for a couple of minutes a week now. It is what it is.”


(baltimoresun.com)