Deion Sanders

ASHBURN, Va. - Deion Sanders said he had been prepping Champ Bailey all week. Yesterday, Bailey's moment arrived. The second-year Redskins cornerback out of the University of Georgia was named to his first Pro Bowl as a starter. Tight end Stephen Alexander and defensive end Marco Coleman are two other Redskins who will be making their first trips to Hawaii, site of the Pro Bowl, the first week in February. In many respects, Bailey beat out Sanders for one of the three positions on the NFC squad, but Sanders couldn't be happier for him. "Champ is going to be a tremendous player for years," Sanders said.

Coach Billick: The man [Deion Sanders] is retired, I've got no clue! Next question! Question: Would there be any interest if he come out of retirement? Have you had any conversations with him - or anyone on the team talk with him at all? Billick: The man's retired. Next question. [ Q: Would there be any interest? [ Billick: Sure, if he comes out of retirement, yeah, and stand in line. A lot of teams are interested if Deion wants to come out of retirement. Q: But what if he said he wanted to play for the Ravens?

Minutes after coach Brian Billick announced Todd Heap would miss two to four weeks with a sprained right ankle, the two-time Pro Bowl tight end passed through the Ravens' locker room on crutches. His mobility best describes the current state of the Ravens' passing game: Very limited. Already ranked third-to-last in passing in the NFL, the Ravens could have to go the next three games without Heap and Travis Taylor (groin), last season's top two receivers who accounted for 44 percent of the catches.

Re-acclimate Jamal Lewis to football. For the first time this year, Lewis will catch a break. The Ravens have stressed patience in light of his turbulent offseason and intend to bring him along slowly. The 2003 NFL Offensive Player of the Year spent four months of the offseason in a federal prison and the past two in an Atlanta halfway house after pleading guilty to using a cell phone to try to set up a 2000 cocaine deal. Lewis is expected to report to camp a few days late to finish out his sentence and likely will be limited until the team can gauge his physical status.

In a twisted way, Ravens coach Brian Billick is viewing the predicament his team is in - and the overwhelming league history that dictates this season will be nothing special - an unexpected, but not wholly dreaded, challenge. Since 1990, only 17 of the 121 teams that have lost their first two games have made the playoffs, or roughly 14 percent. Granted, the Ravens, with three former Defensive Player of the Year award winners (Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Deion Sanders) and a former 2,000-yard rusher in Jamal Lewis, figure to be more talented than the vast majority of those teams, but that has not been evident on the field yet, especially in Sunday's 25-10 loss to the Tennessee Titans.

While a number of defensive tackles must dread facing New York Jets center Kevin Mawae, the Ravens' Maake Kemoeatu welcomes the challenge. Of course, Kemoeatu has never faced Mawae, which could be the reason he is welcoming the challenge. "I always like to see how far I'll get against a really good center like Kevin," Kemoeatu said. "Growing up, I used to look up to him because he's from Hawaii. Now I get to line up against him on the other side of the ball. Being that he's a Pro Bowl player, I'd like to see where I'm at -- if I'm good against him, am I average against him or am I no good against him."

Cease-fire day on the National League West battlefield.Time to shelve the numbers, keep the bats packed. The scoreboards were silent yesterday, the TVs dark. Time to check the scars on all the faces of the Dodgers and Braves, as they inhale one last time.Baseball has not seen such a pennant race in 13 years. Not since the Yankees and Red Sox carried it one game beyond the limit, and Mike Torrez threw a ball and Bucky Dent hit it, and both men were redefined forever.The Dodgers and Braves have been just as unrelenting.

Ray Lewis let loose on the media yesterday, insisting the focus on all the negatives in losses the past two games outweigh the positives of a winning record and the Ravens' having primary control of their playoff fate. Lewis' voice steadily rose during a 10-minute session in which he shunned talking about the defensive breakdowns against the Cincinnati Bengals and New England Patriots and any lingering frustrations that might exist. Instead, Lewis shifted the focus to those who asked about the problems.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - For all the changes, things basically stayed the same. Deion Sanders (toe) does not play and the Ravens' secondary survives. Pro Bowl cornerback Chris McAlister leaves the game in the second quarter with a stinger and the secondary endures. Chad Williams moves from the dime (sixth) defensive back to the nickel (fifth) back, primarily covering the slot receiver, and it looks as though he has played there his whole life. And after spending most of the season on the sideline when the defense is on the field, Corey Fuller, Ray Walls and Bart Scott help limit the New York Jets to 149 net passing yards for the game (32 yards below what the Ravens average giving up)

In retrospect, Ravens coach Brian Billick acknowledged his team suffered a slight emotional letdown after watching running back Musa Smith break his leg in the first quarter of Sunday's 30-10 win over the Dallas Cowboys. Smith had just run for 12 yards, the longest of the day for the Ravens, to convert a third-and-1 when Cowboys safety Roy Williams took him down with a shoulder-high tackle, bending Smith's leg awkwardly in one of the most grotesque hits of the year. The hit happened right in front of the Ravens' sideline, and watching Smith scream in pain before being carted off the field with his leg in an air cast took some of the fight out of the Ravens' offense.