Lewis back for Ravens after jail

Ravens star Lewis jailed

Baltimore running back Jamal Lewis is ready to resume his NFL career after a prison term for a drugs conviction.

Lewis, the NFL's Offensive Player of the Year in 2003, spent four months in a Florida prison and another two at an Atlanta halfway house.

He said: "I'm anxious to get back and get started. I'm ready to strap up, put the pads on and get it going."

Lewis admitted last October taking part in an attempted drug deal in 2000, before he was drafted by the Ravens.

Lewis had played with the drug charges hanging over him for nearly five years while prosecutors ran up against the statute of limitations before filing charges.

"You all think it's just been hanging over my head for the last season. It's been hanging over my head for the last five seasons," he said.

"It's just a relief and a great weight off my back so I can move forward.

"If I could accomplish what I did over the last five years under the circumstances, hopefully there are better years to come."

In 2003, Lewis rushed for 2,066 yards, the second most for a single season in league history.

I'm not a bad person Jamal Lewis on his drugs conviction

A year ago, Lewis rushed for 1,006 yards while missing two games with an ankle injury and another two from an NFL ban for his drug case.

During his prison stay, Lewis said he did a lot of meditating and "focusing on what lies in my future".

"I missed a lot of things while I was there, just driving a car, eating good food," he said at the Ravens' training camp.

"When you're out here on the street, you don't think about those things."

Lewis, fifth overall choice in the 2000 NFL draft, believes he can pick up where he left off on the field.

"Physically, I'm good," he said. "I weighed in at 240, 242. That's pretty much where I'm usually at, a little bit leaner. I've been eating pretty good, training hard twice a day."

While at the halfway house, he prepared for the upcoming season, getting up at 7am and spending 10 to 12 hours working out in the gym.

"Basically you just go to work, and my job was to go work out and get ready for my job here," Lewis said.