Ray Lewis was back in his element Wednesday morning.
The former Ravens linebacker and future Hall of Famer was on the field alongside the NFL's best players during Pro Bowl practice, and he seemed right at home as one of the Legends Captains for the week.
Lewis chatted with several players during practice – he gave Ravens fullback Kyle Juszczyk a little pep talk – and seemed to enjoy the relaxed atmosphere at ESPN's Wide World of Sports in Orlando, Fla.
After practice, it was clear how much respect Lewis carries among the NFL's stars. He drew a crowd on the side of the field, and spent close to 30 minutes talking with a group of players that included Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman and Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier.
Lewis was also still a main attraction for the fans in attendance. As he made his way off the field, fans wearing jerseys of all different teams around the league shouted for Lewis to get his autograph.
Lewis soaked up his time on the field, and he chatted with Steelers Hall of Fame running back Jerome Bettis for several minutes after all of the other players had gone into the locker room. They had plenty of battles on the practice field during their careers, but the two Legends Captains looked like old friends catching up after practice.
Here were some of the other notes from Wednesday's practice:
- Fullback Kyle Juszczyk got an unpleasant surprise when he walked into the locker room before practice and saw his name spelled wrong on his jersey. His name was spelled "Juszcyzyk." Looks like the NFL will have go get a rush order on a new jersey for the rest of the week.
- Safety Eric Weddle, who is making his fourth career Pro Bowl appearance, caught up with some old friends around the league during practice. He chatted with Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers, who is a good friend after they spent nine years together in San Diego.
- Weddle came up with maybe the only interception of the day when he picked off Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton. The teams ran through drills at walk-through pace, so the defensive backs typically don't jump in front of any passes, but Weddle just couldn't help himself. Weddle took off for the end zone after the interception, but Juszczyk chased him out of bounds.
- Kicker Justin Tucker spent most of his morning off to the side booting field goals onto the roof of a large tent set up next to the practice field. Long snapper Morgan Cox, who is also making his second career Pro Bowl appearance, said that Tucker booted a 75-yard field goal during practice.
- Center Jeremy Zuttah spent much of practice chatting with former Ravens left guard Kelechi Osemele. Zuttah and Osemele played next to each other for two years before Osemele signed with the Oakland Raiders last offseason.
- In a funny moment at the start of practice, Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib went around to the rest of the defensive backs to see who was mic'd up. The defenders wanted to make sure who to avoid when having any colorful conversations.
