RB JAMAL LEWIS, DEC. 3, 2008
(On the overall mood of the team)
Everybody's pretty much upbeat and kind of still on the same page after where we started. Things didn't end up the way we wanted but at the same time we still have games left and we still have to finish strong. That's it.
(On if he wishes they could have played the Titans at the end of the 2007 season since Tennessee took the final playoff spot in the AFC)
Not really, it was just the way things panned out. We can't depend on other people to decide our fate, we have to do it ourselves.
(On if he thinks they'll rely on him more with a different quarterback starting)
I'm not sure. I've been in this situation a number of times in my career and sometimes that's the way it pans out. I don't really know right now. We still have a balanced attack and that's what Chud [Rob Chudzinski] tries to imply and get done on the field, a balanced attack. Usually after the first day of practice I'll know.
(On if he'd like to get more carries on Sunday)
Well, I think any player out here, Braylon Edwards probably feels the same way and Kellen Winslow and Donte' Stallworth, everybody wants the ball in their hands but at the same time we just have to go with what's called and try to execute it. I'm sure that he'll plan accordingly and do what needs to be done to try to get a win.
(On what it's like as a player to try to adjust to multiple starting quarterbacks)
I've kind of grown used to it. To me, as a running back, I really can't worry about that. You just have to take the I-part of the offense. There's two dimensions, there's a passing dimension and a running dimension and I just have to handle my part and I can't really worry about the quarterback position too much. We just have to have faith in anybody that's in there. Right now it's Ken Dorsey and we just have to follow him.
(On if this is as good as Albert Haynesworth has played)
Well, he plays well all the time. It's just they're having a lot of success there right now and he's handled that opportunity to do what he does best. He has to be accounted for and ever since I saw him step foot on campus at the University of Tennessee I knew he was an animal.
(On what it was like playing against him at Tennessee)
It was good going against him. We didn't really play with each other at Tennessee but he did come my last year there. He's a great guy and out there on the field he's a great player. I just think he has a high motor and he likes to just keep going and dominate at his spot.
(On what it feels like to have him land on you)
It hurts. You try not to let him land on you but a guy like him, that's how he wears the running backs down and that's how he wears his opponent down, is tackling them and probably falling on them and pushing up off of them when he gets up.
(On if Haynesworth should be among MVP candidates)
Oh yeah. He's a force to be reckoned with on that side of the ball. I think any offensive lineman can say that. He plays that caliber ball of an MVP player and I support him all the way.
(On the challenges the Titans have presented for him personally)
Albert Haynesworth (laughter). Other than Haynesworth, he has a great group around him and what he does at the one-technique or the three-technique, he does his job but also has some great players around him. Like a [Keith] Bulluck that I played against since I came into the league or a Jevon Kearse, they have talent all across the board. They just have good team defense.
(On what it's like as a running back to know the opposing team's defensive game plan is to stop you)
I think you just have to take the Baltimore Ravens approach and that's basically just you don't have many chances to make a decision on where to go, you just have to be decisive and hit the hole when you see it. And that's it. It's not going to be big cracks, there'll be small ones, but you have to just hit it.
(On if the Titans have done a good job slowing him down lately)
Well, I haven't really played them that much but like I said, if you don't account for Haynesworth and let them dominate the line of scrimmage then it's going to be a long day.
(On his impressions of Chris Johnson)
I like him. I've watched him on film a couple times, watched him on TV. He's a fast guy and you really can't let him get to the outside because he'll turn it on. He's coached by a good running backs coach down there in Earnest Byner. He was in Baltimore with me so I know he's giving him the dos and don'ts down there. He stays disciplined in his runs and his reads and he's doing well right now.
(On if his runs for negative yards are factors of the defensive line or him not reading the play right)
It can be a combination of a couple things. You have to protect the line of scrimmage and you can't let leaks get through. A lot of times when you have negative runs, sometimes it's a bust or something that surprises you like bringing somebody off the edge like a corner or somebody that's just not accounted for. You can't blame it on the offensive line or my read, but at the same time maybe it's something we haven't seen, or they caught us by surprise or they caught us in a certain offense where they ran a defense that got somebody through.
(On the importance of the tight end position in Cleveland)
He's going to be accounted for. He's a big threat and it's hard to replace a Kellen Winslow right now but we do have a young guy in [Martin] Rucker. He's a good tight end, has great hands and he's shown us some good spotlight in preseason and now it's time for him to come up and show what he can do. But you have Steve Heiden also who's a good tight end. The young guys have to just step up and fill that void.
(On describing how he feels Monday morning)
Monday morning, probably feel like I got jumped in a back alley or something. That's mainly how I feel on Monday morning.
(On if players have called and wondered about staph infections)
No, nobody's asked about that. It's just been spoken out about around here. For the most part I think it happens in a lot of places around the league, you just haven't heard about it. But here it just was a big case or whatever but nobody's really called me about that.
(On if he felt educated about staph before the incidents in Cleveland)
I kind of knew about it already. Just to take the proper precautions.
