Jamal Lewis walked over to a group of reporters following one of the Ravens minicamp workouts, looking like a man refreshed.
All of the injuries and contract squabbles were behind him. Any lingering issues had melted away.
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“Oh yeah, I feel like it?s a new beginning,” Lewis said. “I?m starting off with a new contract and starting off free and clear. I think I?m in a good situation. I?m happy right now and I have everything behind me with my future to look forward to. I?m trying to make the best of it.”
Players have noticed a reenergized Lewis.
“Jamal looks very fast,” quarterback Kyle Boller said. “Jamal looks like he?s at ease. He?s catching the ball great. I think Jamal is really starting to get out here and has a lot to go out there for this year. It?s going to be fun.”
Lewis is coming off a chaotic 2005 season that saw him hampered by an ankle injury. He gained less than 1,000 yards. Some critics said Lewis was taking plays off in order to not get injured during his contract year, something Lewis denied.
During the early June workouts, Lewis caught passes out of the backfield and ran confidently behind his offensive line. Some wonder if the 26-year-old Lewis can return to his 2003 form, a season in which he ran for more than 2,000 yards and was named the NFL Offensive Player of the Year.
Head coach Brian Billick said the difference for Lewis between this season and last is “huge.”
“He is fine and ready to go. It?s great to have Jamal back,” Billick said.
For a brief while, it appeared during the off-season that Lewis would not remain with the team he had spent all six professional seasons with. The team signed Denver Broncos free agent Mike Anderson, a proven starting running back in the NFL, in March. Soon after, Lewis and the Ravens agreed on a three-year contract.
“I?m happy and the organization is happy, so we?ll just roll with it. Hopefully, we can be on better terms than we were last year,” Lewis said.
The two sides eventually agreed on a multi-year contract. A month later at the pre-draft NFL draft luncheon, general manager Ozzie Newsome confirmed that Lewis? “contract could end up being a one-year contract. He and I agreed that is something we would work on. Mike Anderson is not (a one-year deal).”
Lewis has said he welcomed Anderson as competition in the backfield, and did not worry about the number of carries he will or will not be getting. He said: “This is bigger than Jamal Lewis.”
“My concern is to come in and be the running back I can be for this team and he?ll help this team go where it needs togo,” Lewis said of Anderson.
