WESTMINSTER, Md. — Willis McGahee appears to have no lingering health issues this summer. His mind appears to be in a good place, too, which is a definite plus in his effort to rebound from a lackluster 2008 season with the Baltimore Ravens.
McGahee missed the opener last season while recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery, then battled eye, ankle and knee injuries while falling behind Le’Ron McClain on the depth chart. After making the Pro Bowl in his first season with Baltimore in 2007, McGahee finished with career lows in carries (170) and yards rushing (671).
He didn’t sulk quietly.
“My season is over with,” McGahee said before Baltimore’s first playoff game. “My season was over Week 5. I haven’t done anything at all. I’m just playing my role.”
McGahee will again alternate carries with Ray Rice and McClain this season. The difference is, he’s been running hard and saying all the right things during training camp.
“I look at everything with a smile. You can’t control it all; all you can do is control what you do,” he said. “I just try to be positive.”
His attitude stems from the beating his psyche took last season.
“No doubt about it, last year was disappointing,” he said. “It was frustrating, but I think it made me stronger mentally.”
Drafted in the first round of the 2003 draft by Buffalo, McGahee sat out his first pro season while recovering from a serious knee injury that occurred in his final game at the University of Miami. He rushed for 1,128 yards in 2004 and backed that up with another 1,000-yard season, but the Bills traded him to Baltimore after he missed two games with a rib injury and was limited to 990 yards rushing in 2006.
McGahee gained a career-high 1,483 yards from scrimmage in his first season with the Ravens, then fell out of favor with a new coaching staff by occasionally skipping minicamp sessions and offseason workouts.
This year, the coaches have no complaints.
“We’ve got a smarter Willis McGahee, more of a student of the game with a good work ethic,” running backs coach Wilbert Montgomery said. “He has totally committed himself to the Ravens’ way that John Harbaugh preaches. He has really taken the fundamentals and the techniques to the fullest.
“He’s really working hard. I’m very proud of Willis,” Montgomery added. “I’m very happy with the way he’s working and with his attitude. It’s a great thing to see. He changed his ways.”
The 28-year-old McGahee still wants to be the focal point of the Baltimore offense. It’s just that he understands now that there’s nothing wrong with sharing the load.
“This is 2009. It’s not 1980 or 1991, when one running back did everything,” he said. “It’s different. You can’t really take all the pounding because the hits are getting a lot harder. So you’ve got to be able to switch it up, give everybody a rest and let somebody else come in and do something before you get back in the game.”
The Ravens’ philosophy of alternating running backs isn’t predicated solely on preserving the strength of the trio. It’s designed to give opposing defenses a different look, sometimes during the same set of downs.
“It’s three different running styles. Ray is a slasher, he can change the pace. Le’Ron is a bruiser, and I try to fit in both,” the 6-foot, 235-pound McGahee said. “I know I’m not a big slasher, but I’m trying to be one. That’s one thing I’m working on this year. I know I can get the tough yards when needed, but I’m trying to elevate my game.”
In the preseason opener against the Washington Redskins, McGahee rushed for 26 yards on only four carries, including a team-high 16-yarder.
“Actually I’m happy with it because it was my first preseason game since I came here,” he said, evidently forgetting that he started all four games in 2007.
If only McGahee could purge the memory of 2008. Even if that’s not possible, he has at least taken strides toward making this season one to remember.
“I told Willis, ‘I love the way you came to work,”’ Ravens offensive coordinator Cam Cameron said. “And that’s what, to me, is important. Very seldom have we been around guys who come to work consistently that don’t eventually play well. We focus on the preparation, and I loved his work.”
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