Ravens running back Jamal Lewis took the first step toward showing he is still one of the best at his position during Friday?s preseason game against the New York Giants.
In the game, Lewis ? who missed the early part of training camp with a strained hip flexor ? ran for 34 yards on six carries in one series. For Lewis, the game represented a return to concentrating on football following a tumultuous 2005.
Lewis missed the first week of camp last year due to legal hang-ups after spending four months in federal prison and two months in a halfway house following a plea bargain in connection with drug charges. That, combined with the effects of ankle surgery, led to a career-worst 906 yards.
“It felt good,” Lewis said of Friday?s game. “[It was] my first real contact that I?ve had, really, all camp, so I was anxiously awaiting that first hit.”
Lewis knows this season is vital for his career following consecutive seasons of diminished productivity since 2003 when he rushed for 2,066 yards ? the second most in NFL history.
“Sometimes I think was it a good thing or a bad thing to go for the yards that year, or, should I have waited a couple more years before I did that?” said Lewis earlier in training camp. “But, if I have those expectations and that?s what I put in place, I just try to come out and work hard in the offseason to go out and try to accomplish the same thing again.”
If Lewis is going to bounce back, he?ll do so with some new teammates, including running back Mike Anderson, a former Denver Bronco who rushed for 1,014 yards in 2005.
Ravens quarterback Steve McNair said Thursday he feels the running back depth will allow him to ease into the offense in his first year in Baltimore.
“When you?ve got a guy like Jamal who is always accounted for by defenses, other guys have to step up and take the pressure off of him to open things up so his game can be even better,” McNair said.
Lewis shares McNair?s sentiment.
“I think it?s a good one-two punch,” said Lewis earlier in training camp. “With Steve McNair back there throwing the ball, we?re going to have a more balanced approach coming in this year. That?s what we try to get every year.”
THE LEWIS FILE
Age: 27
Height: 5-foot-11
Weight: 245
College: Tennessee
How acquired: First round, 2000 draft (fifth player taken overall)
Did you know: Lewis has 6,669 career yards on 1,508 carries in 75 regular-season games ? He set the NFL?s single-game rushing record with 293 yards against the Cleveland Browns on Sept. 14, 2003 … In 2000, he joined the Dallas Cowboys? Tony Dorsett as one of two rookies to run for 1,000 yards for the eventual Super Bowl champions.
