A transcript of what Jamal Lewis told Baltimore reporters on a conference call:

On how he likes Cleveland: “It feels like a fresh start since Day One. Just coming in here [with] everybody welcoming me and bringing me in, it’s a good feeling. [It feels] like a new beginning.”

On when he got the feeling that he wasn’t returning to Baltimore: “After the season. Sort of when the season was over with.”

On if it was because he did not want to return to the Ravens: “I really didn’t want to come back, honestly.

“I think it was more of a business move. The fact that it was like I really didn’t fit into that scheme anymore, because of what [head coach Brian] Billick was wanting to do and the kind of offense that he wanted to run. So [there were] no hard feelings, it was just the fact that I’m a runner and I like to be utilized in many different ways, and it wasn’t happening there.”

On his relationship with Ravens head coach Brian Billick: “I really have nothing against him. I have nothing against him, but when it comes to my career and the things that we’ve accomplished there and in the past, it kind of leaves a sour taste in your mouth a little bit. It’s kind of like you don’t really fit into this offensive scheme anymore and you try to do something else when you’ve established something already on that offense over the past seven years.”

On if he is determined to prove something on Sunday and show the Ravens that they made a mistake: “No, no. I think that everybody in that organization, from the top all the way to the players, know what I’m capable of and know what I can do. They know what I can do, so I feel like I have nothing really to prove to anybody.”

On if he has an advantage over other running backs in the league because he knows the Ravens’ defense: “I think I do, not just because I know scheme, but because I know personnel. I know the players, I know them individually. I know what they do best. I know what they don’t do best. I think that kind of gives me a little bit of edge, but at the same time, they’re still a hard-nosed defense. They’re going to play hard, they’re going to play fast. They’re going to rally behind Ray Lewis and Ed Reed and those guys and come hard. I think they’re going to play me a little different than they play any other running back.”

On if he still talks to any Ravens players: “I talk to Chris McAlister, Samari Rolle, Musa Smith. I talk to a couple of guys and stay in touch.”

On if he has talked to any of them this week: “Not this week, no I haven’t. I don’t plan to. I’ll see the guys on Sunday, so I think we can chit-chat then.”

On head coach Romeo Crennel’s statement that he could have a career-type game: “Wow. That would be great, if we can. If we can put it together, that would be great. But I just know it’s going to be a slugfest all day, and that’s why I’m looking forward to it.”

On if he expects there to be any extra emotion in this week’s game: “Oh yeah, because I grew up in this league with most of those guys over there. Of course it’s an emotional feeling, but at the same time, it’s still football. I still have a chance to go out and do [well], and that’s pretty much it.”

On what it will be like to play against LB Ray Lewis: “It will be great. He’s always said straight up that I’m probably one of the best backs in the league and he’s one of the best linebackers in the league, so it’ll be a great matchup.”

On what he remembers when he thinks of his time in Baltimore: “Just all of the good times, as far as the Super Bowl run and just a lot of the adversity that we got over as a team and things that we went through as a team. Basically, like I said, I grew up there as a professional player, so [there are] great memories of the fans. Just everything about it – the players, the coaches and everything that I went through when I was in Baltimore.”

On if he has grown a lot and matured as a person and a football player: “I think I’ve grown a lot as a football player. Not just physically, because I’m naturally talented, but at the same time just the things I’ve learned from the coaches to whatever’s there that’s kind of raised me and brought me up as a pro. So, I think I’m more patient in my game and study more now and just really learned to become a pro.”

On what it’s like to play with a young group of offensive players in Cleveland: “It’s a great, talented group. With Kellen [Winslow] and Braylon [Edwards] and those guys, they’re a great group of guys. I think that’s what they really needed – was the leadership – to come in and piece this team together, and I think that’s what’s going on. I’m proud to be playing with these guys. I kind of just have to flip my role over from where I was in Baltimore to just being the player and looking up to Ray Lewis and the older guys that were there because it was more of a mature team. So now, kind of the roles are flipped where I have to step up as a leader and kind of lead these young guys to where we’re trying to go.”

On if this year’s Ravens defense is as good as previous years: “Watching my film… I’ve been in Baltimore where there was, possibly it can be argued, the best defensive corps ever in the National Football League, in the history. So I can’t say they’re playing like that, because I’ve seen that, I know what they’re capable of.”

On the sequence of talks that led to his signing with Cleveland: “It wasn’t really a negotiating standpoint because me and my agent from the jump knew that I didn’t want to be back [to Baltimore] anyway. So what they were offering really didn’t matter. Coming here, it was kind of my first call after I did get released. It was really as soon as the season was over, before they released me, I kind of put my agent out on the feelers. As far as Cleveland, [the Browns] were really the first choice.”

On when things in Baltimore started to sour for him: “Basically, it wasn’t this past year, it was the year before. Because like I said, they kind of knew what kind of direction [Brian] Billick was trying to go with the offense, and I didn’t fit that scheme. So it was the year before when I was really ready to leave.”

On if he had to again, would he have resigned with the team in 2006: “Would I? Probably so. For $6 million? Yeah, I think I would’ve signed back with them. I think I would’ve signed back with them last year. But the fact of the matter is, me and my agent, when we talked about it, when they did make that offer, it was like, you kind of know what you’re going to get. You’re going to go back, you might get 1,100 – 1,200 yards, that’s exactly what he said, but you’re not going to have a standout, big season. So what do you do? Do you just go back and take that and take what they give you?”

On who contacted whom first – Lewis or the Browns: “I don’t know if I’m able to answer the question because of the timing that it was, so I’m just going to leave that blank.”

On his relationship with Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome: “He is a great guy and I appreciate what he did for me, bringing me into this league and taking a chance on me when nobody else did at that pick in that draft. I appreciate that. That’s all I can really say about him.”

On his first conversations with Browns Senior VP and GM Phil Savage as a Brown: “I could just tell that he wanted me here and he was going to utilize me in ways that he knew that he needed to. That was a great feeling – to be wanted. Because I felt like in Baltimore, I really wasn’t wanted there anymore.”

On how he feels he is running right now: “I’m running great, I’m running great. I owe that to not just myself and what I can do personally, but I have a great offensive line. I have good offensive linemen. That’s a key to my position and what I do.”

On if he ever felt that he would work things out with the Ravens and remain in Baltimore: “No, no I wasn’t really trying to work anything out. I was ready to go, I was ready to go. It was just really, ‘What team am I going to be with? Where am I going to be next year?’ That’s the question that me and my agent were asking at the time.”

On what it is like to see a couple of former teammates on the Browns: “It was great. It was great to see Darnell Dinkins and Gary Baxter and those guys, to see them again. They welcomed me with open arms, just like the rest of the city, so I’m happy to be here.”