OWINGS MILLS – Ray Lewis is accustomed to defending sweeps, fullback dives and swing passes.

It’s a rare occasion when the Baltimore Ravens’ Pro Bowl middle linebacker has had to defend himself.

With Lewis’ range in pass coverage noticeably shorter than during his heyday, the question has been raised whether the two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year should be replaced on third downs.

Since returning from a right turf toe injury that sidelined him for four games, Lewis has appeared vulnerable in pass coverage. The 36-year-old been fairly effective and productive against the run on plays between the tackles, but hasn’t hit quite as hard as usual.

In Lewis’ opinion, though, there’s nothing wrong.

“If you ask my peers, why wouldn’t I be?” Lewis said when asked if he’s happy with how he’s playing.

“It’s hard not to be because the game is simple. You are always going to make a bad play, you are always going to make a good play. It’s about the consistency or how consistent you coach approach every week. You go through a resume of all of the great ones, you can always go back to when they had their downs, when they had their ups, but they were able to overcome that and keep going.”

In his 16th season, Lewis was named to his 13th Pro Bowl.

He still leads the Ravens with 95 tackles and recorded two sacks, two forced fumbles and one interception.

While it might not be up to Lewis’ previous gold standard, he’s still the unquestioned leader of the defense and their top option at middle linebacker.

Deflecting the criticism, Lewis said he takes it as a compliment.

“If you have watched me long enough, it’s actually a credit to me and my hard work,” Lewis said. “To still be around doing what I’m doing, 16 years I’ve been in this business. Do you know how many men I’ve seen come walk in and out of this door? Think about all the people that have had that one dream to be here and never made it. For God to carry me through 16 years and still playing at the level I’m playing at, man speaks what man speaks, but Go controls a whole ‘nother though process.”

Lewis denied having discussions with coach John Harbaugh or other staffers about not playing every down, barring an injury.

“They will try to tell you the smart thing to do, and you kind of do the opposite,” Lewis said. “Like when I separated my shoulder, I knew I had done something bad to it, but the game was more important at that time. I jumped down onto the field in Cleveland and started doing pushups. I said I felt good enough to go back in until I got hit again and I was like, ‘OK, I think I need to come sit down.’”

Lewis was beaten to the outside by speedy Bengals running back Bernard Scott, who ran through an arm tackle attempt by free safety Ed Reed on a 25-yard touchdown run.

Pro Bowl outside linebacker Terrell Suggs has heard the criticism of Lewis and Reed, who’s having trouble tackling due to a nerve impingement in his neck and a shoulder injury.

And Suggs said he wouldn’t want to play on a defense without them.

“Him or Ed Reed’s not allowed to come off that field,” Suggs said. “Ray wanted to play when he got hurt, but they advised him to sit down, to let it fully heal. He was still our leader, still making the adjustments. He just wasn’t playing. It was hold the levees until the general came back.”

And Lewis said he wouldn’t trade his experiences and wisdom for the vigor and speed of his younger days.

“I tell people all the time I would never want to go back to being a young Ray Lewis,” said Lewis, who was last named NFL Defensive Player of the Year eight years ago. “The young Ray Lewis, he was good, but he was out of control. The way I am now is a much wiser person. Every man chases wisdom, if you are truly a man chasing something.

“Where I’m at now in my career, I appreciate the game. I appreciate the mistakes. I appreciate the ups and the downs because there is always a learning curve. There’s always many plays that I may have gotten beat on two weeks ago, last week that I have been beat 10 years ago on the same play. It’s just that’s the irony of the game.”

As for whispers about retirement, Lewis said that’s not what he’s consumed with. Not with the Ravens back in the playoffs and preparing for an AFC divisional playoff game Jan. 15 at M&T Bank Stadium.

“I have a true obligation to myself to play the game with nothing else on my mind,” he said. “The second thing I have an obligation to is my teammates to give it everything I got.”