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Humble [link widoczny dla zalogowanych]Looking to Improve in Third NFL Season
WESTMINSTER, Md. -- You want humble? Meet Ray [link widoczny dla zalogowanych]. The Baltimore Ravens' star running back just had a second pro season for the ages -- 1,339 rushing yards to go with a team-leading 78 catches for 702 more yards -- and almost no one noticed because Tennessee's Chris Johnson set NFL records from the same position. But is [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] bitter? No way. Monday at Ravens camp, I asked him who was better, him or Johnson, and he said if he was picking first in a fantasy draft this year he'd take the other guy.

"Out of respect for him, if I was a fantasy owner, I would take him over myself," [link widoczny dla zalogowanych]said. "And I would just feel mutual -- like, if he wasn't playing, he would take me. We're two different players. I have a lot of respect for Chris. We came out in the same class, so there's a kinship there. I don't really want to say who I think is better, but I definitely feel like we're both top-caliber athletes."

The Ravens are just fine going with [link widoczny dla zalogowanych]'s second choice. In 2009, when they didn't seem to have a wide receiver or tight end who could get open with any kind of consistency, [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] was basically their whole offense. When quarterback Joe Flacco wasn't handing off to him, he was throwing to him. He was so brilliant and reliable that, even now, with Anquan Boldin and rookie tight ends Ed Dickson and Dennis Pitta in the fold and so many more passing-game targets at his disposal, Flacco still anticipates relying on [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] a ton.

"Ray is going to be there," Flacco said. "We know what he can do and we know he's a dynamic guy who's going to help us in a lot of ways. You're still going to see Ray get the ball plenty, I promise you that."

When he does, there are plenty of things [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] still wants to do with it. Nobody who intends to be truly great can believe he's peaked in his second year, and to that end [link widoczny dla zalogowanych]refuses to feel content. He added a couple of pounds ("of muscle," he's quick to assert) and is playing right now at 210 pounds because he doesn't want people to think of him as some kind of third-down scat back.

"Being able to run through the tackles is something that's important to me," [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] said. "I think people underestimate how good I can be running between the tackles. But putting on the muscle,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], definitely reading my blocks more and taking what's given to me -- not trying to do anything extra. A lot of guys, when they feel like the target's on them, they feel like they've got to do more."

And even if he was upstaged by that dude down in Tennessee, Ray Rice jersey knows that what he did in 2009 put the target on him.

"You've got to re-invent yourself all over again," [link widoczny dla zalogowanych]said. "Obviously, people know who I am, people know what I did last year, so the game's going to be a lot harder for me."

That perspective helps keeps him focused, and the somewhat surprising chip he carries on his shoulder keeps Ray[link widoczny dla zalogowanych] motivated.

"Even after what I did last year, I still feel like I'm a guy that's always going to be underrated," [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] said. "When guys have a year like I had, and they don't have it again the next year, people say, 'One-year wonder' and talk all that kind of stuff. But I don't feel like I'm that kind of guy. My life has been consistent. I've definitely been a guy who has proven, even through adversity, that I'm always trying to keep ahead of myself and keep on top of my game."

So he showed up at training camp with some ideas in mind for how to get better. That thing about running between the tackles is for real. [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] would like people to see him as the kind of running back who can bang his way through the line, because he knows that's how running backs make their name.

"I know that my base core is running between the tackles,"[link widoczny dla zalogowanych] said. "That's where our running game starts. Everything else, being split out wide, that's an extra part of my game that I've worked on."

He's become pretty darn good at it. So good, in fact, that the Ravens tried to protect him last year by pulling him out at the goal line and giving those carries (and some touchdowns) to veteran Willis McGahee.

"That's fine," [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] said. "That's one less hit I've got to take. Him getting the touchdown and me doing what I do, that's a tribute to us as a team. It's not one guy that's got to do it all. I've just got to do the things I do best."

And if [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] has his way, Ravens and his opponents will see a lot more of those things this year. Which, when you think of what he did last year, is kind of scary.