Jamal Lewis

Among the rushing marks Ray Rice set Sunday in the Ravens' 24-10 win against the Indianapolis Colts, Rice joined Jamal Lewis as the only tailbacks in franchise history to record three consecutive seasons of 1,000 rushing yards, For Rice, who now has 1,029 yards this season, reaching that achievement is something that he will treasure. “It means a lot to me,” Rice said. “Anytime I do something, I give my credit to the offensive line. But to do three straight [1,000-yard rushing seasons]

The Ravens' chances for repeating as Super Bowl champions suffered a devastating blow last night, when the team learned that Jamal Lewis suffered a tear of one ligament and a sprain of another in his left knee and will likely be lost for the season. The Ravens' star running back will need surgery after suffering a tear of the anterior cruciate ligament and sprain of the medial collateral ligament in his left knee. It would mark the second time in four years that Lewis would have his season end because of an ACL injury.

George Kokinis, the Ravens' pro personnel director, sizes up the top matchup against the Titans: The players Lewis was limited to 48 yards on 16 carries in the season opener against the Colts. During a season in which he was named the NFL Offensive Player of the Year (2003), he was held to 35 yards in the playoff loss to the Titans. He has averaged 66.8 yards in five meetings with Tennessee. Bulluck, a first-round draft pick five years ago, has been named to one Pro Bowl (2003). He has led the Titans in tackles the past three seasons.

Recovering from a knee injury that sidelined him all last season, the Ravens' Jamal Lewis is a different running back. He's more dominant. Relying on power along with a better understanding of the game, Lewis has become the Ravens' most valuable player as well as the NFL's comeback kid, racking up 1,044 yards rushing this season and keeping on pace to break the franchise record he set as a rookie in 2000. "I think he's better," said Sam Gash, Lewis' lead blocker in 2000 and now the Ravens' backup fullback.

A Ravens offense devoid of electricity - and now Jamal Lewis - plods along today into M&T Bank Stadium in search of a big play, a touchdown and a dose of respect. The NFL's two-game suspension of Lewis begins against the Buffalo Bills (1-4), taking away 245 pounds of brute force and 40 percent of the Ravens' total offense. Lewis pleaded guilty earlier this month to using a cell phone to set up a drug transaction before he became a Raven. Left in his absence is a pressing question: Can the Ravens' already struggling offense survive without him?

Jamal Lewis' march toward history comes 18 months removed from when some feared his career was history. Far from tonight's national spotlight, the Ravens running back was only a shadow of himself during a 2002 minicamp, severely favoring his surgically repaired left knee. Instead of shooting for the NFL's single-season rushing record, Lewis was aiming to run 10 yards without limping. A growing number of Ravens coaches, players and fans questioned whether Lewis would ever be the same. He wouldn't be - he returned faster, stronger and hungrier.

When it comes to outfitting the Northwest Bulldogs, Coach Tyrone Johnson doesn't always have enough No. 31s to go around. Players in the Maryland Football Association program, ages 5 to 15, look up to the Baltimore Ravens' No. 31 - partly for his achievements on the field, partly because he donated several bicycles a few years back, partly because he's Jamal Lewis. When one of them, Johnson's son, Trey, 13, ran into Lewis in a Circuit City store, he was thrilled. "I could just see the excitement on his face," said Johnson, head of the Northwest program.

Drug indictment charges against Jamal Lewis have thrust the star running back and the Baltimore Ravens into crisis-control mode. But experts say such incidents have, in twisted irony, become less damaging as they have become more commonplace. "I think that we're in an age where these types of events are no longer as traumatic to a sports organization as it would have been," said Eric Dezenhall, a crisis-management consultant in Washington. "It's become normalized in the culture. These types of arrests have not been shown to disrupt business."

Ravens star running back Jamal Lewis expressed disappointment yesterday that the team had not offered him a contract extension as promised in the preseason and left open the possibility that he might not return for the 2006 season. Lewis, 26, has one year remaining on the original six-year, $35.5 million contract he signed in July 2000 when he was the team's top draft pick and the No. 5 selection overall. Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome has publicly admitted he promised Lewis a new contract after the former University of Tennessee star rushed for 2,066 yards in 2003, but negotiations came to a halt when Lewis was indicted on federal drug charges in February 2004.

Ravens star running back Jamal Lewis, the NFL's offensive player of the year, was indicted yesterday in Atlanta on federal drug charges that date back nearly four years to his life before pro-football fame. Lewis, who grew up in Atlanta, is accused of trying to help a childhood friend purchase as much as 50 kilograms of cocaine in a deal that turned out to be part of an FBI sting operation in the summer of 2000 -- after the former University of Tennessee player had been drafted by the NFL but before he signed a six-year, $35.3 million contract with the Ravens.