QUICK SNAPS

Raven mad

New England doesn’t play Baltimore until Dec. 3, but already a feud is brewing. Linebackers Adalius Thomas and Ray Lewis, former Ravens teammates, fired verbal volleys up and down the Eastern Seaboard last week.

It started when Thomas, now with the Patriots, told Sports Illustrated that Baltimore players “wanted the limelight. People sought out the limelight, starting with the head coach. It was a star-studded system. Here it’s about as different as you can get. Everybody here shies away from being the star guy. Nobody on this team beats his chest. They just all go about their business. And win.”

Lewis, the All-Pro leader of Baltimore’s defense, responded to Thomas’ comments on his weekly radio show.

“We won a Super Bowl without Adalius Thomas,” he said. “The New England Patriots won three Super Bowls without Adalius Thomas. You’re talking about a guy -- great talent . . . don’t ever get me wrong -- but we had to fit him into our scheme.”

Lewis went on to say, “When you take a shot at men who you claimed you loved to go to war with, I call those people cowards.”

In the final round of he said/he said, Thomas clarified that he wasn’t trying to belittle the Ravens, but, “Ray Lewis means nothing to me, as far as his comments or anything else he says.”

But he quickly added, “I love him like a brother.”

Mane man

Kansas City defensive end Jared Allen is dyeing one stripe in the side of his mullet for each sack he makes this season. Already, he has eight -- a reminder he’s tied for the NFL lead, despite being suspended for two games.

International travelers

Spending time overseas is nothing new for New York Giants defensive ends Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora. Strahan spent his youth in Germany, where his father was in the U.S. military, and Umen yiora was born in London and lived there until he moved to Alabama for high school.

For them and others, today’s game against Miami in London is strictly a business trip.

“If you want to go to London,” Strahan told reporters, “I’m sure you can get a great deal and fly yourself back and enjoy a vacation when we’re done. For now, we’re going over there to win so we can go into our bye week on a positive note.”

Talking big

The St. Louis Rams might be 0-7, but that hasn’t stopped tight end Randy McMichael from making a bold prediction. He has guaranteed a victory over Cleveland today.

Browns Coach Romeo Crennel promptly tacked that to the bulletin board.

“I think Joe Namath was the only guy who guaranteed a win [in Super Bowl III], and it became a big deal when he delivered,” Crennel told reporters. “If Randy delivers, then it will be a big deal for him.”

The Rams, who are averaging 11.3 points a game, are on pace for their third-lowest average in franchise history. The team low-water mark is 6.8 points by the Cleveland Rams in 1937, their first year in the NFL.

Sacked

Former Atlanta defensive tackle Grady Jackson says that he doesn’t know why the Falcons cut him last week, and that when the team called he thought it was to praise his performance.

Instead, he was stunned to discover he’d been released.

“They told me I didn’t fit their system,” Jackson, 35, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “That’s what they told me and that they want to go younger. From my standpoint, why would you do something like that when the season isn’t almost over? In other words, for me, I feel like they are giving up on the season.”

-- Sam Farmer