Lewis Still Makes His Presence Felt

Ray Lewis didn’t make a tackle, force a fumble or have an interception. He didn’t even dress for the game.

He was there for the Baltimore Ravens in spirit, though, and that was good enough.

With their five-time Pro Bowl linebacker cheering and coaching from the sideline, the Ravens intercepted three of Mark Brunell’s passes and defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars, 17-10, Sunday.

Chris Redman threw two touchdown passes to Todd Heap to help Baltimore (3-3) remain in first place in the AFC North.

Held out of a second consecutive game because of a partially separated left shoulder, Lewis was dressed in black street clothes as he shouted encouragement and instruction from the sideline.

“It’s like having another coach on the field with us. We really feed off his energy,” Baltimore defensive tackle Kelly Gregg said.

The Ravens repeatedly frustrated Brunell, who returned from a concussion against the Tennessee Titans last week. Two of his interceptions led to Baltimore scores and the third ruined the Jaguars’ bid to send the game into overtime.

“He had some limited practice time this week, but I thought he handled himself well,” Jacksonville Coach Tom Coughlin said.

“That’s a good defensive football team over there, there’s no question about that.”

Brunell was 24 for 46 for 231 yards. Fred Taylor ran for 151 yards and caught eight passes for 46 yards.

“Freddie can have all the yards in the world, but when you turn the ball over and you don’t produce in the red zone, you’re not going to win,” Brunell said.

Redman was 14 for 28 for 152 yards.

Hayden Epstein’s 22-yard field goal pulled Jacksonville (3-3) within 17-10 with 2 minutes 30 seconds to play. The Jaguars moved to the Baltimore 25 before rookie Will Demps intercepted Brunell’s pass to end the game.