Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Torrey Smith was upset by the comments made by the defending Super Bowl champions former linebacker Ray Lewis after he accused the team of having a lack of leadership after reports surfaced of Jacoby Jones being being hit over the head with a champagne bottle by a stripper.
Lewis, now an analyst with ESPN said on Monday following the reports that the void left by himself retiring, safety Ed Reed departing for the Houston Texans, receiver Anquan Boldin being traded to the San Francisco 49ers and center Matt Birk retiring, that there was a leadership hole on the Ravens, where he spent 17 years.
Smith didn't care for the comments to say the least, referring to them as a "joke."
"We have great leadership, so to say because of one incident, that it's a leadership issue, to me, is a joke because everyone is not going to always be around and incidents happen," Smith said Tuesday, according to The Baltimore Sun. "Stuff happens in the locker room, stuff happens in the spur of the moment. Now, if it happens every week, all the time, then that's a problem. For one incident to happen and say it's a leadership issue when most of the team wasn't there, it's an overreaction."
Lewis spent time with the Ravens on Sunday as the team inducted him into its Ring of Honor in a ceremony before eventually defeating the Houston Texans 30-9, but was highly critical of what he perceived to be a lack of leadership.
Coach John Harbaugh has vowed that guys like quarterback Joe Flacco and linebacker Terrell Suggs will step into the leadership roles following the team's many departed leaders after last year's Super Bowl victory, and also said that Jones attended team meetings on Monday and was fine, according to ESPN. Harbaugh was not happy with the report.
"I'm not very impressed personally with the report," Harbaugh said. "It's not something we want to be known for. We'd like to think it's not something those guys would want to be known for. It's nothing to be proud of, so I'm kind of disappointed in that sense."
Lewis expressed his questioning of the leadership prior to this past week's Monday Night Football telecast.
"This is something that we spoke about earlier in the year when we talk about the transition of losing so many guys, a guy like myself and Ed Reed and other guys that are based off leadership," Lewis said on the pregame show. "Because I've said it earlier: 'Where would the leadership come from?' Because the leadership being strong in the locker room and winning games, listen talent sometimes can win you games. But when you talk about what's going on off the field, that's the most important place where leadership steps up."
Smith disagreed with his take, saying that the incident was an isolated one and had nothing to do with the locker room atmosphere.
"It's only bad because someone went and ran to TMZ," Smith told The Baltimore Sun. If no one knew, it wouldn't be an issue. We would resolve it in the locker room. It's resolved anyways."
Still, Lewis believes there is a void and that the team needs someone to step up and direct it.
"When you think about the Baltimore Ravens and the transition that they went through, they're missing leadership right now," he said on Monday Night Football. When you have an incident like [late Sunday] night, the first thing a leader is going to do is find some way to dissolve everything that's going on -- and actually dissolve it before it comes to that type of head or even gets to this point. When you talk about the Baltimore Ravens, they're going to have to refocus and find some quick leaders in that locker room very quickly."
Through his 17 years with the team, Lewis played in 228 games, mounting 41.5 sacks, 31 interceptions for 503 yards, three touchdowns and 1,573 tackles. Lewis is a two-time Super Bowl champion, 13-time Pro Bowler and three-time AFC Defensive Player of the Year, but these days he's highly critical of his former team's lack of leadership.
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