09/13 — There are at least two constants every time the Jets and Ravens get together. The Jets will have a different starting QB than in their previous meeting. And the Ravens will have MLB Ray Lewis to greet them.

Lewis may have a sore arm that he picked up from the Cincinnati game Monday night and that is keeping him from practicing so far this week, but there isn't a Jet who doesn't expect to see No. 52 roving the M&T Bank pitch on Sunday. He's started all five games in this series since the Ravens came to life in 1995 and has unofficially totaled 57 tackles (44 solo) and 8.5 tackles for loss/no gain.

"Ray's an exciting player," said center Nick Mangold during today's locker room session. "He does a great job and he's got great instincts in moving around and moving to the ball. It's going to be a big challenge."

That's the safe, laudatory response and all of the Jets' offensive players offered some version of it as the media spotlight swung to them today.

The Jets may have their head coach to thank for Lewis' preeminence. Eric Mangini's only season on Ted Marchibroda's Baltimore coaching staff in 1996 (as an offensive quality control assistant) was also Lewis' rookie season.

"Ray was an impressive guy as a rookie in terms of his command of the huddle, in terms of his presence," Mangini recalled at today's morning news conference. "You sensed it, you felt it the second he hit the field. And I'm talking about OTAs and rookie minicamp, not later on in the process.

"He continues to be that guy. He's a very effective playcaller, a very effective leader."

Eric Allen will have a story on guard Brandon Moore's perspective on Lewis and the "scary" Ravens defense that will go up shortly under the Week 2 heading of newyorkjets.com.

Against which Jets quarterback Lewis will lead the Ravens' defense is a question this week. It could be Chad Pennington, who continues to rehab his ankle, or it could be Kellen Clemens.

Whoever gets the nod, he guarantees that the Jets will have their sixth different starting QB in the sixth game of this mini-rivalry. And if it's Clemens, that would mark the third straight game vs. Baltimore that a QB would be making his debut as a Jets starting QB. Here's a chart on those previous meetings (home team in CAPS):

Walking Wounded

Both the Jets' and Ravens' injury reports have been updated through today and can be found by clicking on Injury Report on the top of the Team Roster page. The Jets' list didn't change from Wednesday.

The Ravens, though, had one downgrade — safety and emergency punt returner extraordinaire Ed Reed, who fully participated in Wednesday's practice on a sore ankle, did not practice today — and one upgrade — starting QB Steve McNair participated on a limited basis today. Also, CB David Pittman was added to the Ravens' list as not practicing.

The GM on SNY

The next installment of "First & Goal with Mike Tannenbaum" airs on SNY today at 6:30 p.m., and it should be a solid 30 minutes of information for Green & White fans. The Jets general manager is expected to discuss Darrelle Revis' first game and first start as a pro and why the Jets moved up in the draft to pick the corner from Pitt. Tannenbaum will also provide some insight on the Ravens, and a certain shaved-headed daytime talk show host will "Ask Mike" a provocative question.