Levi Jones airing frustrations to media, Marvin Lewis fires back

by Josh Kirkendall on Sep 1, 2007 5:57 PM EDT in Analysis

It was a bit shocking that Levi Jones aired so much frustration to the media. If any offensive lineman is going to speak to the media about frustrations, nine times out of ten -- no, ten times out of ten -- it's Willie Anderson. And usually Anderson talks about the frustration about the team, not his role within. He speaks honestly that rarely talks about himself -- other than responding to the "hey, you like winning now" questions.

Then Levi spoke.

"I just think if they were getting me ready for Baltimore, you would think they would be trying a little harder to get me prepared for that."
"I'm surprised about a lot of stuff going on and understand none of it. Last week, I took more reps at right tackle than left tackle."
"What's that tell you? If they had a starter getting ready for Baltimore Monday night you would think give them as much work as possible, right? So obviously something else is going on, so maybe you can tell me."
On his knee. "How did I look out there? Don't I look good enough to start? I've been ready for a couple of weeks."

Marvin Lewis responded.

"Levi understated how much he practiced by maybe a third," Lewis said. "It concerns me that it's not about you, Levi, it's about the football team and he knows that and realizes that. I don't want the guys to vent their frustration to you and I'm not going to vent my frustration to you."

Asked if Jones will start against Baltimore, Lewis said, "I don't have to make that determination now to you."

Tweet Comment 0 comments | 0 recs |