Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis sent a message to the Cowboys running game.
And Cowboys fullback Lawrence Vickers said he’s not backing down.
During a conference call with Dallas media, Lewis said the Ravens had other plans if the Cowboys wanted to try to fix an ailing run game.
“They can look to do whatever they want to do but it ain’t going to be what they think it’s going to be,” Lewis said.
So Vickers, who played against Lewis twice a year as a member of the Browns, said they weren’t going to be intimidated by reputation.
“I stay ready, for whoever,” Vickers said, via Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News. “Ray. Bernard. Bryant. Whoever it is. Names don’t scare me, man. Teams don’t scare me, man.
“I’m a man before anything, so I let other men just talk. See me in between them lines, that’s how I get down, like that.”
Get down, then Lawrence.
“That’s just the way he feels,” Vickers continued. “I don’t remember him being a Houdini or anything like that. He’s entitled to his own opinion. And if that’s how he feels, that’s cool, too. Kudos to him.”
This may be a case of the talk being much better than the walk, on both sides of the ball.
The Cowboys are 29th in the league in rushing (67.8 yards per game), and the Ravens are 20th in run defense (118.4), so it’s not as if either side deserves to do a lot of gum-flapping.