<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Seconds after the Baltimore Ravens took beefy defensive tackle Haloti Ngata of Oregon with the 12th pick, the talking heads started chirping, "Well, Ray Lewis has gotten his way ..."Two hours later, Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan called that analysis something that can't be printed, even on the Internet."Ray needs to be quiet and play," Ryan told me, with more than a little irritation. "He's not the team. He's part of the team."Yikes.These are the strongest words someone in the Ravens organization has uttered publicly about Lewis in years, and possibly ever. Even during his murder trial in 2000, the team uniformly stood behind the gifted linebacker.Apparently, the team -- or at least Ryan, son of Buddy Ryan -- has had enough.Quick back story: Lewis popped off in a couple of televised interviews last week, ripping the Ravens for not getting a Sam Adams-type of defensive tackle to protect him.Lewis is a two-time Defensive Player of the Year, but the best season of his career came in 2000, with Adams and Tony Siragusa keeping blockers off him.Before drafting Ngata, the Ravens' starting DTs would have been Kelly Gregg and Justin Bannon. Neither weighs more than 310 pounds.Lewis, who turns 31 in two weeks, missed 22 games to injury the last four years, in part because he's had many more offensive linemen crashing into his body -- and also because he's on the wrong side of 30.So the Ravens traded up one spot to take the 6-5, 338-pounder to both fill a need and appease their future Hall of Famer, right?Not quite, according to Ryan."Any linebacker can play behind those two tackles," Ryan said, referring to Ngata and Gregg. "(Ngata's) a huge guy that's a good athlete."The knocks on Ngata are his lack of focus and explosion. Ryan, never one to couch his remarks, called those assessments absurd."When you look at the type of kids we bring in, they're all high-motor players. Effort won't be a problem," Ryan said. "Also, he blocked six kicks in college by coming up the middle. He's plenty explosive."There's no doubt, then, that Ryan is excited about coaching Ngata. Let's see if he can muster the same enthusiasm about Lewis.</div>http://www.cbs.sportsline.com/columns/webl...try/9710/042006
About time they said something about Lewis.He really does need to shup up and just do his job.Prove that he does still have it.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (chang @ Apr 30 2006, 10:38 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>This is why we need to trade Ray Lewis. We made a mistake catering to him.</div>The Redskins would be happy to take him off your hands
