OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) -Ray Lewis will always have a deep appreciation for former mentor Rex Ryan, whose emotion and leadership helped make the Baltimore Ravens one of the fiercest defensive units in the NFL.
Ryan left during the offseason to take the job as head coach of the New York Jets, leaving Greg Mattison in charge of the Baltimore defense. As far as Lewis is concerned, it doesn’t really matter who’s calling the plays.
“Do you love Rex? Yeah. But Rex has never made a play on the field. No defensive coordinator has,” Lewis said Wednesday.
“The bottom line is, the players make plays, and we have a corps of guys who are dedicated to each other,” Lewis said. “Anytime you have that type of chemistry, it’s almost impossible to come back and not to have the same defense. That’s why this defense has been successful year in and year out.”
raised questions about the continuity of the unit, but there is distinct possibility this year’s defense might be even better.
Safety Dawan Landry played only the first two weeks of the 2008 season before being sidelined by a neck injury. Tackle Kelly Gregg sat out the entire year with a knee injury, and end Dwan Edwards missed the season with a bad back. All three are back, and backfield has been upgraded by the addition of free agent Domonique Foxworth.
“Getting Landry back, signing Foxworth, getting Kelly back and Dwan Edwards, that gives us depth where we need it,” Lewis said. “We’ve been riding that for years, having that much depth.”
The Ravens have gone 35 games without allowing a 100-yard rusher, a streak that began after Kansas City’s Larry Johnson did it in December 2006. Johnson and the Chiefs will provide the opposition in Sunday’s season opener.
Johnson still hasn’t forgotten the pounding he took while running for 120 yards in that 2006 game.
“It was a great game for me, but it hurt me more afterward because those guys didn’t give me an inch and hit me most every play,” Johnson recalled.
Todd Haley, Kansas City’s new head coach, has been an NFL assistant since 1995. Over that time, he’s seen Baltimore put together one great defensive unit after another.
“I had to play the Ravens a bunch, and there isn’t one time you ever look forward to it,” Haley said.
Lewis has been the one constant in the Baltimore defense since the franchise moved from Cleveland before the 1996 season. Between him and safety Ed Reed, who is entering his eighth season, the Ravens have enough teachers in the huddle to make Mattison’s job that much easier.
When a player joins the Ravens defense, he becomes the member of an elite club.
“The guys are willing to learn,” Reed said. “We understand as a team that this is a job, but it’s our profession to play football. Guys understand that and buy into it. That makes it easy for us to go out and execute.”
And for Mattison to coach.
“We’ve heard Ray Lewis tell a young player, ‘We don’t do it that way here.’ We have an Ed Reed explaining to a new player the right way to play,” Mattison said. “I’m telling you, it’s a pleasure to work with them. They have so much pride in what they do.”
Ravens running back Willis McGahee probably thinks running on Sundays is a vacation compared to going up against the Baltimore defense on a daily basis.
“I think it’s a better defense this year because these guys have been together for a long time. Mattison has a handle on what these guys can and can’t do,” McGahee said. “Plus, no doubt about it, there’s more depth. There’s a good rotation going on for them, with no falloff.”
Notes: WR David Tyree worked out for the team Tuesday and took a physical, but the Ravens aren’t ready to sign the former Super Bowl star, who was cut last weekend by the New York Giants. “We’ve just got to see that he’s 100 percent ready to go. We’ll take it slow at this time,” coach John Harbaugh said. … WR Mark Clayton, who missed the entire preseason with a hamstring pull, declared himself to be 100 percent.
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