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NFL Feature Capsules: McDermott makes most of what he has on defense
Comments 0 | Recommend 0PHILADELPHIA — Guys, meet your new teammate.
Since the first month of the season, the Philadelphia Eagles have added a new defensive player nearly every week. Welcoming unfamiliar faces are becoming a routine part of the daily position meetings.
That isn't an ideal situation for first-year defensive coordinator Sean McDermott, who already is filling big shoes. McDermott replaced Jim Johnson after the longtime coordinator lost his battle with cancer right before training camp.
Johnson would be proud of the way his pupil has handled all the adversity. The Eagles' defense is ranked eighth in the NFL in total yards, 13th in points allowed and second in sacks and takeaways.
"Our identity has always been who we want to be and that's a nasty, aggressive football team on defense," McDermott said Thursday morning. "That's who we are, regardless of who takes those positions. In terms of the roles that different people play and the personnel that we have, that's a mix-and-match deal every week and it's been that way most of the season. We'll just use the personnel that we have at our disposal."
McDermott hasn't worked with a healthy unit since the start. He lost middle linebacker Stewart Bradley to a season-ending knee injury in training camp, an especially tough blow. He was the quarterback on defense and one of its top all-around players.
Bradley's injury started a revolving door. The Eagles have used five different middle linebackers and haven't started the same set of LBs more than three straight games.
Joe Mays replaced Bradley in the preseason, but Omar Gaither took the starting job before the opener. The Eagles were so desperate to upgrade the position they signed former Pro Bowl selection Jeremiah Trotter away from his part-time radio gig and put him on the field for the first time in two years. Then they acquired Will Witherspoon from St. Louis last month and moved him to the middle.
Witherspoon had to play the weakside spot the last two games because Akeem Jordan was sidelined by a knee injury. Chris Gocong switched over to the middle from his normal spot on the strongside for one game and Mays and Trotter split time in the middle last week.
If Jordan can play this Sunday when the Eagles (6-4) host the Washington Redskins (3-7), Witherspoon would go back to the middle. Having Witherspoon has helped tremendously because of his versatility and ability.
"It's been challenging and it would be challenging for anyone, but Will has worked very hard in a short amount of time to learn two positions," McDermott said. "He's done a good job, he's been productive. Playing the outside position, he gives up some speed off the edge as a blitzer and he can play in space and cover tight ends very well."
McDermott has needed to reshuffle his secondary in recent weeks because nickel cornerback Joselio Hanson was suspended four games for violating the league's drug policy, backup cornerback Ellis Hobbs (neck) was placed on injured reserve and starting cornerbacks Sheldon Brown (hamstring) and Asante Samuel (neck) were banged-up. Brown played through his injury and Samuel could play this week.
The Eagles have signed cornerbacks Ramzee Robinson and Geoffrey Pope to provide depth at the position. Despite the injuries, none of the players are complaining.
"If you're whining, you're looking at it the wrong way," safety Quintin Mikell said. "You have to look at it as an opportunity, especially if you are the guy stepping in. You have to look at is an opportunity to show what you can do and help the team get better. Nobody wants to be the guy that steps in and is the reason why we're not playing well."
Notes: CB Asante Samuel (neck) and LB Akeem Jordan (knee) missed a second straight day of practice Thursday and it's uncertain whether they'll play against the Redskins on Sunday. CB Sheldon Brown (hamstring) had limited participation in practice.
Former Patriots TE Thomas making mark with Saints
METAIRIE, La. — David Thomas has no beef with the New England Patriots.
He wasn't offended that they unloaded him to New Orleans this preseason for a 2011 seventh-round pick, though few would have blamed the most prolific tight end in the history of the Texas Longhorns for wondering if he was worth a little more.
"It doesn't matter what I was traded for," Thomas said this week, as his unbeaten Saints prepared to play New England this Monday night. "I'm just happy to be here. It's a great opportunity — a good football team with great guys, great character in this locker room and I don't get caught up in (trade value). I just show up and try to do my job every day."
The Patriots originally drafted Thomas in the third round in 2006. As a rookie, he played in 15 games with three starts. He was part of the 2007 team that went 16-0, but spent all but the first month of that season on the sideline with a foot injury. Last year, he started 10 games, making nine catches for 93 yards.
This season, the Patriots had a logjam at his position. With Ben Watson and Chris Baker performing well, the Patriots decided to trade Thomas.
"You just can't keep everybody on your roster sometimes that you want to keep," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. "I thought Dave was a good player when we drafted him. I think he was a good player when we traded him ... but I think we have other good players on our team as well and sometimes it just comes down to managing your roster and the numbers that you have."
The Saints were scrambling to find a veteran tight end when Billy Miller tore his right Achilles' tendon late in the preseason. Former Patriots fullback Heath Evans, who signed with the Saints earlier this year, said he lobbied for Thomas.
"What a steal," Evans said. "I was the one kind of standing on the table saying he's a great locker room guy, very cerebral in his approach to the game of football, which I think is kind of what you need in this day and age. You've got to be able to play a lot of positions, you've got to be able to do a lot of things and he can do that."
Thomas wound up taking snaps at both fullback and tight end after Heath Evans went out for the season with torn knee ligaments.
In the past two games, with opponents focused on limiting fellow tight end Jeremy Shockey, Thomas has nine catches for 111 yards and a touchdown.
Saints coach Sean Payton expected Thomas to be productive, but stopped short of saying he knew the trade was going to work out as well as it has for his club.
"You understand that it's not an exact science," Payton said. "He has obviously filled a role for us and with the injury to Heath Evans, his role to some degree has expanded and we've been fortunate that way."
Quarterback Drew Brees was less restrained in his praise.
"It's like finding (wide receiver Marques) Colston in the seventh round a couple years back, just a guy who can do so many different things, play at a high level, great in the locker room, just everything you want in a teammate," Brees said.
Thomas isn't flashy. He isn't loud in the locker room, wears his brown hair short and spends his offseasons with family and friends in his native Lubbock.
He has long been a versatile athlete, though. He played basketball in high school and was on the track team, running in relays and competing in long jump and triple jump. He said football was always his favorite, though he half-jokingly conceded that may have been a result of where he grew up.
"That may be because I'm from Texas, I don't know," he said.
In any event, football has been pretty good to him. He's caught passes from Tom Brady and Drew Brees. His Saints are 10-0, giving him a shot to be on a second 16-0 team. And lately, he's played a significant role in New Orleans' success.
"It has been great to be able to get out there and make some plays," Thomas said. "The most important thing is when your number is called, step up, and I just try to do that every day."
-- Brett Martel
Abraham needs improved coverage to increase sacks
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Falcons defensive end John Abraham thinks spotty coverage in the secondary is one reason for his decline in sacks this year.
He wasn't timid about saying it, either.
"It has a lot to do with people maybe not knowing the coverage and not, I guess, being grown-ups with what they're supposed to do," Abraham said. "We've got to make changes.
"Like I said, 'If I'm not playing well, y'all take me out.' It's a part of the game. We're just going to move on."
Rookie cornerback Chris Owens, a third-round draft pick from San Jose State, could take some snaps from Brent Grimes and Tye Hill when the Falcons (5-5) host Tampa Bay on Sunday.
Atlanta has dropped two straight and four of five after Giants quarterback Eli Manning passed for three touchdowns and a career-high 384 yards last week in New York.
Abraham had 11 sacks through 10 games last season, but the three-time Pro Bowl selection has only 3½ this season — and just 1½ sacks since the opening week.
Abraham finished with 16½ sacks a year ago, setting a single-season franchise record that was a half sack better than Joel Williams' 1980 mark.
"Against Washington, I had like nine quarterback hits," Abraham said. "It's like I was joking with my (defensive line) coach (Ray Hamilton), how can you hit the quarterback nine times and not get a sack? I've just got to turn hits into sacks."
The Falcons' 20 sacks rank 20th in the NFL, but instead of Abraham, defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux and reserve end Kroy Biermann are tied for the team lead with four apiece.
Head coach Mike Smith believes Abraham's production will increase if the secondary does a better job defending routes. Grimes and right-side starting cornerback Chris Houston have been beaten several times with their heads turned toward the receiver instead of the ball.
"Some guys have better ball skills than others, but it's something we have to improve as coaches," Smith said. "We have to continue to work with our guy to help them play the proper technique and playing the ball in the air. I don't think it's strictly instinct at all. I think it's a skill that is learned and I think the guys can improve on "
Smith wouldn't say if Owens will replace Grimes against the Bucs, who rank just 27th in scoring at 16.4 points per game and 29th in total offense.
Hill, a former first-round pick acquired in a late-August trade with St. Louis, has played in just three games. He was inactive the first five weeks and didn't play at Dallas or New York.
Most of Owens' playing time has come on special teams.
"He's working hard to learn the system and to get an opportunity to get in there," Smith said. "If an opportunity arises where we can get him in or we feel it merits him playing, then we'll put him in."
Abraham just wants consistency from the secondary against rookie quarterback Josh Freeman.
"We've got to bring some pressure, and he'll do some errant things," Abraham said. "He's a young guy. If you watch him on tape, he'll fumble the ball if you get close to him and he'll throw the ball away. Another thing is trying to contain him. He's pretty mobile to be so big."
The Buccaneers plan to defend against Abraham the same as other opponents, rarely leaving him in single matchups and using a double-team or a tight end, running back or fullback to help.
"He's always going to have the ability to give you problems," Tampa Bay coach Raheem Morris said. "You have to do certain things to protect against him. Everybody does it. If you make one mistake and get the wrong block on him on any given down or any given play, you are going to be in trouble."
-- George Henry
DE Brown bears weight of Panthers draft gamble
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Sitting at 4-6, decimated by injuries and facing a brutal closing schedule, Carolina's playoff prospects look bleak.
That only makes the scrutiny more intense for rookie defensive end Everette Brown. Because of him, the Panthers don't have a first-round draft pick next spring.
"The move that they made during the draft was a big move," Brown acknowledged this week.
Coming off a 12-4 season, the Panthers spent the offseason in a win-now mode. They returned all but one starter, then on draft day traded next year's first-round pick to San Francisco for the 49ers' second-round choice.
With the 43rd selection, Carolina took Brown, the baby-faced, ex-Florida State star who immediately became a second-round pick with first-round expectations.
"You need to realize that and know that's how they expect you to play right away," Panthers linebacker Jon Beason said. "He knows that."
There was a reason Brown slipped to the second round. At 6-foot-1 and 260 pounds, he's undersized for a conventional NFL defensive end. The Panthers liked him because new defensive coordinator Ron Meeks effectively used smaller, speedy ends Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis in his old job in Indianapolis.
Brown's NFL career began with him feeling worn down and weak.
"It was an issue for me," Brown said. "People will always talk about the size difference and the size that I lacked. But for me, I didn't feel as strong as I needed to be. I didn't feel myself."
Brown didn't crack the starting lineup, then missed a Week 3 loss to Dallas with a sprained ankle. He kept working in the weight room, however, determined to become the disruptive factor the Panthers planned on when making their big gamble.
It's worked. As many rookies face exhaustion and a drop-off in play as they participate in the longest season of their lives, Brown feels rejuvenated.
"I feel 100 percent better now than I felt the first game of the season, which is a little weird because my body never went through that before," Brown said. "But coach says on film I look totally different, I look stronger, I look more explosive. You want to be playing your best ball here at the end."
Brown has only one sack, in an Oct. 11 victory over Washington. But he's been more of a factor in the past month. He has seven quarterback pressures in the past four games, and got his first start of his career last week against Miami with Peppers limited to passing downs because of an injured hand.
Brown has played more on passing downs with Charles Johnson (pectoral) out last week and again Sunday at the New York Jets.
"He has an excellent work ethic," coach John Fox said Thursday. "He's playing the run a lot more aggressively, a lot stronger. We always knew he had pass rush skills, but he's playing the run better."
Yet there are still questions about the trade. Two games out of the wild-card chase and with New England (7-3), Minnesota (9-1) and New Orleans (10-0) still on the schedule, the Panthers will be hard-pressed to make the playoffs. They need help in many areas, but a possible top 10 pick will belong to the 49ers.
"I feel like I was able to come in and contribute," Brown said. "There's not any (more) pressure than I put on myself when I step on the field for practices, games to produce and be a force on the team."
With 13 tackles and two forced fumbles, Brown may need to make a big leap next season.
Peppers, the four-time Pro Bowl pick who said last spring he wanted to play elsewhere, will become a free agent again. The Panthers could put the restrictive franchise tag on him again, but would be forced to pay him a salary-cap busting one-year deal worth more than $20 million.
"With the uncertainty of what's going to happen next year with Julius, he needs to kind of take on that leadership spot," Beason said of Brown. "He needs to take on that role where more is demanded of him and run with it."
NOTES: LB Na'il Diggs (rib) missed his second straight practice Thursday, leaving the Panthers dangerously thin there with Thomas Davis and Landon Johnson out for the season. ... DT Damione Lewis (shoulder) was limited. ... DE Julius Peppers (hand), FB Brad Hoover (ankle), S Charles Godfrey (ankle) and RB Jonathan Stewart (Achilles') practice in full. ... Fox said it's possible they'll mix and match Godfrey, Chris Harris and Sherrod Martin based on situations and matchups as Godfrey returns against the Jets after missing four games.
-- Mike Cranston
Cards 7-3 again and looking to avoid '08 letdown
TEMPE, Ariz. — The Arizona Cardinals were flying high a year ago, 7-3 and running away in the NFC West. What followed was four losses in five games, three by at least 21 points.
Well, here they are again, 7-3 with a three-game lead in their division. Memories of that letdown were fresh as the Cardinals prepared for Sunday's game at Tennessee.
The next few weeks will show whether this group has matured enough to know how to handle success.
"It's on us not to repeat the past," wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald said, "and it starts this Sunday."
A major difference is the team's assessment of its own play. A year ago, the long-suffering Cardinals were riding a run of success unprecedented since the franchise moved from St. Louis two decades earlier. This year, 7-3 is in some ways disappointing.
"Last year when we got to 7-3, we were like 'Man, we're 7-3,'" Fitzgerald said. "This year we feel like we let some games get away from us. We feel like we haven't played up to our potential at this point."
Coach Ken Whisenhunt says there is some evidence this is a team better equipped to avoid a letdown.
"Last year when you look back at this time everybody was saying we were 7-3 but we couldn't run the ball and we couldn't win on the road," he said. "This year we're at 7-3 and we're running the ball a little better and we've won on the road. Does that make us different? Does it mean we're going to play better down the stretch? I hope so, but it remains to be seen."
After beating San Francisco for their seventh win last season, Arizona played the New York Giants tough in a 37-29 home loss, then were blown out at Philadelphia on Thanksgiving 48-20.
The Cardinals returned home to beat St. Louis 34-10, clinching the division title with three to play. Then it got real ugly. Arizona lost at home to Minnesota 35-14, then in the snow of New England, was routed by the Patriots 47-7.
That's why Whisenhunt could empathize when the same thing happened to Tennessee on a trip to New England in the same kind of weather this season.
"It looked eerily familiar to be honest with you," he said.
But while success was as foreign as an ice cube in the desert a year ago, this year's Cardinals have seen the heights of the game.
After beating Seattle in the regular season finale to stagger into the playoffs at 9-7, Arizona — as anyone who has read this far knows — earned stunning victories over Atlanta, Carolina and Philadelphia. The improbable Super Bowl run concluded with a near-miss against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Tampa.
That raised expectations exponentially this season, and led to the self-assessment that Arizona really has yet to play to its potential, despite its record.
"I think now we want to see how good can we get every game," defensive tackle Darnell Dockett said. "We just want to make sure we're able to get better every game. How good can we be?"
The next couple of games are tough. After resurgent Tennessee, Arizona has a Sunday night home matchup with Minnesota. Then it's a road game against a 49ers team that beat the Cardinals in the season opener, Arizona's only loss within the division the past two seasons.
Arizona wraps it up with a trip to Detroit, followed by home games against St. Louis and Green Bay.
"There's a lot of stuff in front of us. We've got a lot to play for. That's the bottom line," quarterback Kurt Warner said. "You've got to show up every week and nothing's guaranteed, especially after 10 weeks in the season. You've got to understand that. We've got some tough football games coming up."
-- Bob Baum
Seahawks reduce rookie LB Aaron Curry's workload
RENTON, Wash. — Forgive Aaron Curry if he sits back and savors the unexpected breather the Seahawks are about to give him.
He's had so many life changes since April, he may not recognize himself in the mirror.
The dynamic outside linebacker turned 23. He became the fourth overall draft choice. He got married to Jamila Abdul-Hakim of Charleston, S.C. He became a father. He sat out the first eight days of training camp because he didn't like Seattle's offer, then signed for $34 million guaranteed — the largest assured cash for a non-quarterback in NFL history. He used some of that windfall to buy a new home in the Seattle area.
Curry was handed the starting job the first day he arrived in camp. He made a splash in his first real game on Sept. 13, flying all over the field while infuriating the St. Louis Rams with trash-talking and hits at and after the whistle. He got fined by the league repeatedly in September and October for being overly aggressive.
Then, in the words of Seahawks coach Jim Mora, he hit the proverbial rookie "wall."
No wonder. Curry had so much else going on he probably didn't see it.
"It's really just very natural that rookies, at a certain point in the year (get tired)," Mora said, emphasizing the team isn't disappointed in Curry, only trying to help him as he plays his most games ever in one season.
"He's played 14 games. A lot of change in this young man's life over the last six months. ... Sometimes that builds up on a young man. So we're just going to try to help him get to the next level."
Curry has just five tackles in his last two games despite playing almost every defensive down. He has just two sacks in 10 games, none since Oct. 11.
He admits playing on every down, defending the run, taking on bigger and far more experienced offensive tackles, dropping into pass coverage and being asked to blitz the quarterback have all been wearing him down.
"I struggled with some fatigue a few games back," Curry said.
Mora denied Curry had too much responsibility too soon. Yet he and rookie defensive coordinator Gus Bradley are scaling back on Curry's workload. Mora said Curry will now play less on third downs, cutting out some of his pass coverage and blitz responsibilities.
That's bad news for the Rams. They are no doubt looking forward to paying back Seattle's eager rookie on every play they can in the rematch Sunday in St. Louis.
"I wouldn't necessarily say (my head) was swimming, but I got to the point I was doing too much overanalyzing," Curry said.
As for the aggressiveness that has sometimes had him out of position, and out some cash, Curry calls it being "too eager to make big plays."
Mora says Curry won't completely disappear on third downs. But the Seahawks want him to focus on getting better on first and second down in the base defense, to solidify a foundation for what they feel is a long, stellar career ahead.
"What we want to do is give him the best chance to have success, not only this year but in his career," Mora said. "We're not going to limit him or hold him back from anything that he shows us that he can do, but there is a learning curve that all these rookies go through. We're just going to make sure that we do it the right way with this guy, so that he can have success.
"We're trying to get him to the next level."
As for all those tests that made this college guy at Wake Forest a man in six whirlwind months, Curry thinks he aced those.
"I thought I did a good job not letting anything outside football distract me. It's always hard to get fans to understand all we go through as players — and not just the rookies," he said, describing the film study, the meetings, the practices, the physicality of the sport.
"Sometimes, it's all right that a guy has ups and downs."
-- Gregg Bell
AFC
McDaniels' trash talk strikes chord across NFL
DENVER — Josh McDaniels' trash talk is the talk of the league.
The Denver Broncos' brash — some would say cocky — coach exchanged taunts with a group of San Diego Chargers linebackers during warmups Sunday, at one point telling them, "We own you!"
Then, he watched those very players lead the Chargers' 32-3 beatdown that knocked Denver out of first place in the AFC West.
His words reverberated across the NFL, with fellow coaches saying they had never heard of this happening before and at least one star player suggesting they should be allowed to fight back with fists and not just their mouths when taunted by an opposing coach.
According to players who were either involved in the heated exchange or who witnessed it, the main target of the 33-year-old McDaniels' taunting was outside linebacker Shaun Phillips, whose sack and strip of Chris Simms on his first dropback set the early tone for San Diego's statement victory.
"As a coach, I hope he has that mindset, but to say you own us? You beat us one time," said Phillips, who is five years younger than McDaniels. "How much has he really done in this league? He had a team 6-0 and now he's looking up at us in second place."
Denver rookie safety David Bruton said he didn't see anything wrong with his coach jawing with the opponent.
"It shows that he cares and is fighting for his team," he said. "Our coach is an emotional coach, he is a very fiery coach. He has a lot of passion for the game and for the Broncos. What he did wasn't Woody Hayes. Hayes would reach up and hit you on the side of the head."
Which is what Pittsburgh Steelers safety Ryan Clark suggested players should be allowed to do when coaches taunt players from the other team.
"Honestly, my thought on that is, I would like to petition Mr. (Roger) Goodell and say, if a coach can talk to me like that, I should be able to fight him," Clark said. "I don't know where he's from, but where I'm from, when somebody talks to you like that, they've got a problem with you. And we should be able to fight
"If a player talks that way, you get to hit him. When a coach talks that way, you don't really get to strike back. Who wants to have verbal jabs with a coach? That's no fun. Let's fight."
Earlier this month, Goodell, the league's commissioner, fined Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams $250,000 for making obscene hand gestures at Buffalo Bills fans.
But McDaniels' trash talk won't cost him anything in fines.
"No, it's not anything we are reviewing," league spokesman Greg Aiello told The Associated Press.
Penalty or not, Tennessee Titans linebacker Keith Bullock said coaches have no right to razz opposing players.
"The coach had his opportunity when he was younger to have his time out there and obviously it's over," Bullock said.
As if taking a cue from their coach, the Broncos let their emotions get the best of them Sunday, unraveling with silly penalties and sideline spats in a reversal of their 34-23 win at San Diego a month earlier.
After taking the league by storm with six straight wins, including one over his mentor, New England's Bill Belichick, after which he did his best Tiger Woods' fist-pump over and over, McDaniels finds himself trying to straighten out a team that's lost four straight heading into the Thanksgiving night game against the New York Giants (6-4).
He acknowledged his team lost its poise last week but he declined to discuss his own pregame chatter with the Chargers. After the game, he told the Denver Post that he didn't want to make an issue out of it and, besides, he said, they started it.
Denver defensive end Vonnie Holliday gave a passionate defense of his coach this week only seconds after ripping on his teammates for all their "jaw-jacking" during the game.
"The thing about Josh is that he's a very competitive guy, too. He's right there in that fire with us. When we go out on that field, he's right in it with us. Emotionally, he's as charged as we are, and as a player you love that in your coach," Holliday said.
"I think that's great that as a coach he can do that. I'm sure it's probably frowned upon or somebody's going to say something bad about it. But as a player, I didn't know that had happened, but I wish I had seen it. It might have gotten me going a little more."
Broncos fullback Peyton Hillis said, "I don't think it's any different from a player going up against another player. Before the game and during the game you are enemies. At the end of the day, the coaches aren't going to shy away from an opponent."
Coaches have been known to crack an occasional quick joke with opponents before a game, but they usually don't put themselves in position to get razzed by a rival. And if they do find themselves targeted by taunts, they tend to walk away and let their players handle things themselves on the field rather than provide any more motivation for the competition.
Cleveland Browns coach Eric Mangini said he couldn't recall a coach ever getting into it with opposing players during warmups, "and even if that was the case, you have a game to play, so you just focus on that."
Some coaches said the bigger issue is when players spill onto the opposing sideline during play, which can lead to scuffles like the one earlier this month involving Washington cornerback DeAngelo Hall and members of his former team, the Atlanta Falcons.
"The referees are great at running in there and (breaking things up), but there's not a place for it," Minnesota Vikings coach Brad Childress said. "Typically, those guys can tumble into your bench or sideline, but you're more worried about getting 'em off the ground or finding out if any of your guys got hurt. It's split-second stuff.
"It has to do with the emotions of the game, too. But as competitors, you have to be able to control that emotion. There's not a lot of place for it. You get off-centered that way too easily."
Titans coach Jeff Fisher, the elder statesman among NFL coaches, said he's never heard of a coach taunting the other team's players before or after a game.
"I personally feel like I have a great deal of respect for them. I'll do a lot more of the other, just talking," he said.
And what does he think of McDaniels' trash talking opponents?
"Good luck in free agency."
-- Arnie Stapleton
Fourteen years later, Lewis still despises losing
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Ray Lewis hates losing, especially games decided in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter.
The Baltimore Ravens have dropped four games like that this season, and Lewis reached a boiling point last Sunday when the unbeaten Indianapolis Colts escaped with a 17-15 victory.
Lewis, a 10-time Pro Bowl middle linebacker, made 10 tackles and forced a fumble despite playing with a sore right ankle.
And still the Ravens lost.
Afterward, Lewis brushed past reporters and left the locker room without saying a word.
"It gets no harder for me than Sunday. I've always had a problem with losing. I pray about it a lot," Lewis said Wednesday. "I don't like losing freaking close games, I don't like losing nothing. I like to finish games out 60 minutes when you've got a team like that on the ropes."
Lewis has won a Super Bowl over his 14-year career, but he's also had to endure dozens of defeats. Nothing infuriates him more than working hard for an entire week, then playing with unyielding intensity before walking off the field on the short end of a close game. That's exactly what happened Sunday, and to make matters worse, the defeat was eerily similar to a 15-6 playoff loss against Indianapolis two years earlier.
"When you reflect back to 2006, kind of the same situation happened. We hold them to five field goals and lose and they go on to win the Super Bowl. I don't want to relive that again," Lewis said. "So Sunday, excuse me for not talking. That's definitely not me. But for me, the way I play this game and the way I study and how we had them, that game we're supposed to win. We didn't win it. That didn't sit well with me."
The 34-year-old Lewis leads the Ravens with 103 tackles, but Baltimore (5-5) is in danger of missing the playoffs because it has lost four games by a total of 13 points. Against the Colts, two fourth-quarter turnovers sealed defeat.
"It was a bitter taste in my mouth," Lewis said.
"Ray's always intense. It's rare that he's not intense," Ravens outside linebacker Jarret Johnson said. "Yeah, he took that loss hard, just like we all did. That's why he's been so good for so long. He's always focused, he's always willing to come in the next week and get a little bit better. He's been doing that for 14 years."
Getting into the huddle with Lewis has been a one-of-a-kind experience for rookie linebacker Paul Kruger.
"It's unlike any player I've ever played with. You know you're in good hands. You know who the boss is, you know who the captain is," Kruger said. "He's just a presence out there. You can feel it in the 102nd row in the stands, but being right next to him, it's a pretty special thing."
Lewis has never been one to mask his emotion, on the field or in the locker room. So his agony was evident after Sunday's game.
"You could tell he was feeling it, big time," Kruger said."
After glancing back at the Indianapolis game one more time Wednesday, Lewis turned his full attention toward defeating the rival Pittsburgh Steelers at home Sunday night.
"The way we play each other, it's always a physical ballgame, it's always going to come down to one of the last plays," he said. "It's just the way it is."
Lewis can only hope that if it's close, the Ravens find a way to win.
-- David Ginsburg
Johnson: 55 yards shy of best November since 1970
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee running back Chris Johnson just keeps running onto some rare NFL ground in his second season.
Johnson already has put his name alongside the likes of Jim Brown, Earl Campbell and Eric Dickerson by running for at least 125 yards each of the past five games — only the eighth player in NFL history to reach that feat.
Now he's got a chance to top Barry Sanders for the best November in the NFL since the 1970 merger with the AFL.
Sanders ran for 701 yards in five games during November 1997, and Johnson is 55 yards back playing his fifth game this month Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals. He said it feels good to hear his name mentioned with those running backs.
"It makes you just want to keep working hard and breaking their records basically. If you're being mentioned with those guys, you're doing the right things," Johnson said.
The NFL's leading rusher with 1,242 yards has been running wild on his current streak. He can become only the third player in NFL history to run for 125 yards or more in six consecutive games Sunday, joining Dickerson (1984) and Campbell, who played for the same franchise when it was based in Houston in 1980.
Johnson has been even hotter during November in helping the Titans (4-6) win four straight.
He set a franchise-record with 228 yards Nov. 1 against Jacksonville, added 135 yards at San Francisco, 132 against Buffalo and reached 151 yards in Monday night's 20-17 win at Houston.
That's 646 yards on 104 carries with six touchdowns. Sanders needed 100 carries for his 701 yards for Detroit in 1997.
Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt defended Adrian Peterson last year and thought he was pretty good. He considers Frank Gore of San Francisco a good back, too.
"Wow, there is not a lot that are comparable to the way he is playing right now. He is at a high level," Whisenhunt said. "There are a number of good backs, but Chris Johnson is really a threat and is really playing well for them."
Johnson's speed measured at 4.24 seconds in the 40-yard dash at the 2008 NFL Combine is what makes him dangerous. The 5-foot-11, 200-pounder also is showing he can pound away. He has more carries in each of the past four games.
"We're just in a situation right now he's much more comfortable, and we feel every time he touches the ball he's got a chance to go," Titans coach Jeff Fisher said. "So you might as well take advantage of it. There's no sign of wear and tear."
Arizona (7-3) brings in a defense ranked eighth in the NFL, giving up 103.2 yards per game. The Cardinals did give up 158 yards to Carolina's DeAngelo Williams on Nov. 1, and are in a stretch where Steven Jackson ran for 116 yards against them last week with Peterson up next after Johnson.
Cardinals defensive tackle Darnell Dockett said they know well that Johnson is unique.
"He can take a run, a 5-yard run, a 5-yard gain or a 6-yard gain, and all of a sudden it's 60 down the sideline. We've got to be clicking on all cylinders," he said. "It's going to be a big challenge, especially for the defense to play against the No. 1 rushing team on the road."
"And you know they're going to run the ball 30-40 times a game. You've got to have you're mind right, you know what I'm saying, and we look forward to the challenge"
The difference now is Vince Young, whose dual threat to throw or run makes Johnson even more potent. The Titans have been using the option some since Young returned as the starter, and he ran for a season-high 73 yards against the Texans. Johnson said having Young in the backfield has helped slow up defenders who can't make up their minds who to stop.
"When he rolls out there, just seeing the dude's eyes, he really don't know what to do. He don't know if he wants to run at Vince or run at me," Johnson said. "When we ran it last week, the first play he ran to Vince, then I got the pitch. The second play he just didn't know what to do. Vince kept it and went up the middle and almost scored."
Fisher watched Eddie George post five straight 100-yard rushing games for this franchise in 1998. Gauging how good Johnson might be? Fisher wants to wait on that.
"It's way too soon to talk about comparisons to those great players who've come and gone," Fisher said. "He's off to a great start. His production speaks for itself."
Right now, that's more than enough.
-- Teresa M. Walker
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