BeastJacobs

Lol, our RB is so good at jukes, it's sooo annoying. You're like, "I got him, I got him, I got him!" You go for the tackle and whiff. "Damn it!"

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gruntbygod

And that was the case for Dillions whole career, he had no respect for his coaches and team. He was still an elite back.

Lewis should have known he wouldnt make any cream with two terrible season's. If he was thinking about money he wouldnt have "tanked". He would have know no one is gonna give a subpar has been a huge deal. If it was a case of him looking for money, he would have busted his a$$ and prodused. Face it Lewis will never be .5 of the back he was in his prime, that 2000 yard season probobly aged him 5 years

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Professor

My point was that he wasn't out for the money, he wanted out of Baltimore and wanted to be healthy when he did.

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gruntbygod

I dont see it, he may say that, but if he did I call BS. Doesnt make any sence to me, he should have know last year their was no market for him. Thats why he is in a blackhole now. he had his chance to bolt, in 2006, but no one was gona pay for a subpar back that was coming off a season which he averaged 3.4 yards, and he did nothing to improve his stock this year.

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chris_36824

Willis Mcgahee is ranked higher in my book, but I don't think Jamal Lewis is done for. If he starts the whole season I could see him at least getting over 1,000 yards rushing.

Professor

This is from LAst Year - 2006

Metromix. Q&A with Mike Preston

Watching Jamal Lewis, he seems to doubt his own ability to run with the authority he has run with throughout his career. On one occasion, he started dancing in the backfield with only one defender in front of him where in past seasons he would just run to the outside and try a stiff-arm. He seems to be dancing more and more instead of just hitting the hole hard. Is it lack of confidence, or is his ankle not as healthy as he'd like us to believe?

Mike Preston, Baltimore Sun: It's about the Benjamins, baby. I wrote that earlier in the year and took a lot of criticism for it. Now it's interesting because former Ravens defensive end Michael McCrary says the same thing. When the Ravens, according to Jamal Lewis, broke their promise about giving him a contract extension before the start of the 2005 season, it took away his passion and intensity for running the ball. Basically these guys who perform at such a high level are saying: I'll put it on the line for you, tear up my body and risk injury, but you have to compensate me for it. There has to be a trust factor. It didn't happen, and Lewis has become just another running back. He's not finished. He's just not motivated to play like the old Lewis.




I heard this from Lewis throughout 2005 season and 2006. They lied to him and used him, he obviously took offense to that. It wasn't like he wasn't the same guy for two years and then used this as an excuse, he was saying it the whole time as were the writers

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gruntbygod

And I call BS. He is making exuses. he had his chance to bolt last year, he was playing for a contract this year. If he really said that he is so full of **** its funny

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Professor

but he was saying it before he performed at a lower level, almost saying that he was going to perform at a lower level for them. He just didn't have the motivation for a team that didn't care about him at all

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gruntbygod

Well, then he has mental issues. All that has done is put him on a blackhole franchise were all you have to do to stop them is stop him. he has marginal blocking on the intiror, even with Steinbach who is more a finness blocker. He is now in the Elder Eddie George phase of his career. he is young, yes. But you have to remeber he came into the league very young (20), so he has the same workload as a HB at about 30-31

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Professor

J. Lewis is moving on with Browns

J. Lewis is moving on with Browns -- baltimoresun.com

Berea, Ohio - There didn't seem to be much of a hole for Jamal Lewis to squeeze through. Studying his blockers, Lewis cut quickly to his right, through a blur of orange helmets, and suddenly found himself in the clear.

It was only training camp, and only the first week of August, but a player whose career in Baltimore had leveled off the past two seasons has found himself rejuvenated with a new team in a new city.

His story drips with irony, given the fractious history of the two franchises, as well as the fact that it was only four years ago that Lewis broke the NFL's single-game rushing record with 295 punishing yards against the Browns.

"I think he's definitely a good running back, but now he's a good running back and he's got a chip on his shoulder, and that's going to make him even better," said Browns cornerback Gary Baxter, who played four seasons in Baltimore with Lewis.

Said linebacker Andra Davis: "I think he wanted to prove not only to the organization but to himself that he has it in him, that he's still one of the best backs in this league. I know we're going to cater to him; this offense fits his style. He's going to have the opportunity to show the world."

Lewis, who turns 28 next week, signed a one-year contract reportedly worth $3.5 million that can bring him as much as $5 million if he reaches all of his incentives. He reported to camp last month at 238 pounds, about 12 pounds lighter than he played with the Ravens.

"I've got a fresh start, I'm happy, it's fun again," Lewis said after a recent practice at the team's facility in the Cleveland suburbs. "That's what it's all about. I've got a bunch of good guys in here that are ready to win, that are young and talented, and it's just all about team here.

"That's where the spring in my step comes from."

But Lewis is aware doubters remain, and says he believes most of the skepticism emanates from Baltimore.

"I think these guys, from the coaches on down, they know what I can do, don't feed into the whole 'What does he have left in the tank?' story. Whatever Baltimore put out there, they didn't buy into that," Lewis said of the Browns. "They know what they were looking for to establish their running game, what they had been missing, and I fit what they're trying to do."

Lewis looks at what happened last season, when he rushed for 1,132 yards and nine touchdowns on 314 carries while playing with painful bone spurs in his left ankle that required injections during the season and surgery after it.

His dissatisfaction in Baltimore goes back to the 2005 season, when he had career lows in yardage (906) and yards per carry (3.4). While his critics say Lewis began to show the wear of an NFL running back going into his eighth season, Lewis points to the Ravens' offense.

"The scheme changed, and we went to more of trying to use the tight ends in the backfield blocking, getting more to a passing game and less of a running game, which we were known for," said Lewis, who was unhappy when tight end Darnell Dinkins, now with the Browns, was not resigned by the Ravens after spending 2004 and 2005 in Baltimore. "That's when I kind of just lost it; it just wasn't fun.

"All the complaining about the running game, but there were no moves to improve the running game. That's not where their focus was. I was just ready to go. It was time for me to go because I no longer fit their scheme."

His connection to Cleveland came through Phil Savage, who was the director of college scouting for the Ravens when Lewis was drafted in 2000. Savage, now in his third season as vice president and general manager of the Browns, knew he needed to upgrade at running back.

"He's bigger, faster and stronger than what we had at that position before," Savage said. "No knock on Reuben Droughns, but we feel Jamal will be more productive. Deep inside, he wants to prove himself, and we feel that a hungry Jamal is a good Jamal."

In the past 20 years, only one Cleveland running back had gained more than 1,000 yards in a season. Droughns, who led the Browns with 1,232 yards on 309 attempts in 2005 before falling off to 758 yards on 220 carries last season, was traded to the New York Giants two days after Lewis signed with Cleveland.

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