BEREA – Jamal Lewis may be biased, but that doesn’t mean he’s wrong.

“I see something real special in him,” Lewis said. “I see a burst out of him and an aggressiveness out of him. We’re from the same neighborhood back home, so he’s got some fight to him.”

Him is rookie running back James Davis. And he has been the most pleasant surprise through the first week of training camp.

Davis, a sixth-round pick out of Clemson, has caught the attention of Lewis, the defense, the fans and coach Eric Mangini.

“James has done a really nice job,” Mangini said. “What I like about him is that he’s done it since the day that he got here.”

A big play from Davis (5-foot-11, 210 pounds) has become an almost daily occurrence. If he’s not catching a pass out of the backfield for a touchdown, he’s making a move in the open field that sends the empty-handed defender to the ground, then back to the sideline in embarrassment.

Perhaps the most impressive highlight was a run Thursday. He burst through a seam on the right side, made a nifty cutback and sprinted down the left side. There was no tackling, but it looked like it would’ve gone for a 50-yard touchdown.

“My goal is to try to make a big play every day I come out here,” Davis said Friday after the morning practice. “I think it’s all instincts, but at the same time, you don’t want to get caught and it’s the time to show your speed.

“I pretty much just drop my head and it’s like a track meet after that.”

Former Browns running back and current Oberlin College assistant Lee Suggs took notice from the sideline.

“He looked good,” Suggs said. “He has good speed, good vision.”

When the speed and vision are combined with nimble feet, loose hips and rapid acceleration, the change of direction can be startling.

“I just think it comes natural for a running back,” Davis said. “If you’ve got good cutback ability and good vision, you can become a complete back.

“I get to come here and kind of show guys what I can do. I work on my feet often at home with Jamal.”

Lewis, who turns 30 at the end of the month, and Davis attended Frederick Douglass High School in Atlanta. The plaques on the wall tell an interesting story.

“He’s the first one to hold all the records, then I came in and broke all of them,” said Davis, who finished with 7,339 yards and 80 touchdowns in high school. “We’re always talking and joking about it. He told me, ‘Hey, records are meant to be broken.’”

Davis, who started 3½ years compared with Lewis’ three, said he would ask his coaches how many yards he needed to eclipse each record. Now he’s starting over, 10,107 behind Lewis.

“Everybody back home said to me what a great opportunity to play with a guy from your backyard,” Davis said. “It’s real special I’m getting to learn from a guy who’s already done it.”

How much longer Lewis can do it will go a long way in determining Davis’ role this season. Backs nearly always slow down at 30, and Lewis is coming off his first season without a 100-yard game. He had offseason ankle surgery and declared himself ready to roll.

“Man, 30, wow,” he said. “I’m blessed to make it to 30 and still be out on this football field. Going on 10 years in this league and still going strong.”

Lewis and Davis are joined in the backfield mix by Jerome Harrison and Noah Herron.

Davis’ hot start has turned Harrison into the forgotten man, and he might need to establish a role on special teams to secure a roster spot.

Davis was highly productive during a four-year Clemson career. He started all four years and finished second in school history with 3,881 rushing yards and 47 touchdowns. He was a first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference pick as a sophomore and junior after a pair of 1,000-yard seasons and 27 touchdowns.

But he split carries as a senior and finished with 751 yards and 11 touchdowns on 171 rushes. This played a big role in him sliding to the Browns at the 195th pick.

None of that will matter if his camp performance translates to preseason games and the regular season.

“I want to be one of those special guys,” Davis said. “I always talk about Josh Cribbs. I see fans cheering him and I sit back and smile at that and dream that can be me one day. That’s kind of my goal in what I want to do.”

Lewis believes he can be that type of player.

“That means a lot,” Davis said. “Jamal’s a great back in this league. Just hearing that from him, that kind of opens my nose up, telling me I can be something special.

“I just got to go out and keep working hard.”

Contact Scott Petrak at 329-7253  or spetrak@chroniclet.com.

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