Coach Harbaugh: Ray is still Ray

The Ravens handed out two game balls last night - one to tight end Ed Dickson, whose girlfriend gave birth to a baby boy just before kickoff, and one to GM Ozzie Newsome, who, as head coach John Harbaugh put it, "established what it means to be a Raven".

If you want to know Dickson's son's name, you're going to have to wait. The rookie wants to see his kid's face before settling on anything.
Can't blame him for that.

During Harbaugh's postgame press conference last night, he stopped at the end of his opening statement, and added one thought unsolicited.
"Ray Lewis has lost a step?" Harbaugh asked himself rhetorically. "I don't think so. Ray Lewis is the best linebacker in football, no doubt about it. He showed it tonight."

Lewis' stats from last night (four tackles, no sacks, no tackles for loss) might not show too much, but the 10-time Pro Bowler was all over the field, taking on lead blockers, dropping into coverage on the rare occasion the Jets decided to test the Ravens' pass defense, and laying the lumber any chance he got.

Two crunching hits come to mind right away - the one on Jets fullback Tony Richardson which freed up a teammate to make a stop on a big third down, and the highlight reel hit he delivered on Jets tight end Dustin Keller, which dislodged the ball from Keller's hands and nearly dislodged his head from his body.

The 35-year-old Lewis has heard people question whether he's too old to play an effective middle linebacker in the NFL. He might not be exactly the same player that he was five or six years ago, but we saw last night that he's still got plenty of football left in him.

"When you hear people say stuff like that, I always tell people to just turn on the film," Lewis said. "When you love the game, just keep playing the game and don't worry about all the outside influences.

"The bottom line is my team looks at me as a leader of this team, and I'm going to go out and keep leading them, no matter what nobody says."

Click here to order Ray Lewis’ proCane Rookie Card.



(masnsports.com)