Football’s a family affair for Patriots’ Lewis

Roots in the game run deep for Ryan Lewis, a cornerback on the Patriots’ practice squad last year who is in training camp with the team trying to crack the 53-man roster.

FOXBORO – Football roots run deep in the Lewis family.

Patriots cornerback Ryan Lewis’ father, Will, was a cornerback who spent time in the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks and the Kansas City Chiefs, in the USFL with the Denver Gold and the Houston Gamblers, in the CFL with the Ottawa Rough Riders, Montreal Alouettes, Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Winnipeg Blue Bombers, served as an assistant coach with the Atlanta Falcons, then spent time working in the front offices of the Green Bay Packers, the Seahawks and the Kansas City Chiefs. The elder Lewis is now the general manager of the Memphis entry in the Alliance of American Football, which is scheduled to begin play in 2019.

Lewis’ uncle, Tim Lewis, was also an NFL cornerback, one who spent four seasons with the Packers prior to becoming an assistant coach who went on to put in more than 20 years in the league with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the New York Giants, the Carolina Panthers, the Seahawks, Falcons and the San Francisco 49ers. Earlier this year, he was named head coach of Birmingham’s entry in the Alliance of American Football.

Lewis’ cousin, Louis Riddick, was a safety who had a six-year NFL career with the 49ers, Falcons, Cleveland Browns and Oakland Raiders, spent time with the WLAF’s Sacramento Surge and the XFL’s Orlando Rage, went on to work as a scout and director of pro personnel with the Washington Redskins and the Philadelphia Eagles and is now a football analyst at ESPN.

And there’s another Lewis behind him: Younger brother Drew, a senior, is the starting middle linebacker at the University of Colorado who has NFL aspirations.

“We have a football family,” Lewis said following a recent training camp practice on the fields behind Gillette Stadium. “I believe I’m the sixth member on my dad’s side to play in the NFL. It’s just good to get a whole bunch of knowledge from those guys, guys that have been there before, been in those real, like, hard systems back in the day and for them to keep on feeding me knowledge I have to listen.

“Those guys have all done it. They’ve played at a high level. They’ve all been there before. There’s nothing they haven’t seen that I’ve done so it’s just great.”

After leading the state of Washington with more than 1,700 yards rushing as a senior at Eastlake High School, Lewis went on to play 51 games at the University of Pittsburgh, starting 12 as a senior in 2016, registering 79 tackles and two interceptions while being credited with eight passes defensed.

Signed by Arizona as a rookie free agent on May 2, 2017, the six-foot, 195-pounder was released by the Cardinals last Sept. 2, then signed back to their practice squad the following day only to be released from that on Sept. 12. The Patriots signed Lewis to their practice squad the following day and he remained there throughout the year.

“Real comfortable,” Lewis answered when asked how he feels after a year in the system. “Last year, a couple little tweaks, but I feel comfortable. Just go out there and play.”

Lewis has shown up this summer, making plays at a cornerback position that’s crowded (there are 11 on the Patriots’ 90-man roster), but one where opportunities exist with the offseason free-agent departures of starter Malcolm Butler and backup Johnson Bademosi. One of Lewis’ more notable plays came during the team’s in-stadium practice at Gillette on Monday night when he intercepted a pass Tom Brady underthrew to speedster Cordarrelle Patterson.

“It’s going great right now,” said Lewis. “I’m getting my opportunities right now to show what I can do. (I’m) going out there every single day competing, trying to prove that I do have what it takes to make the squad.”

Along with the coaching he gets on the practice field there is the advice he can seek out with a phone call back home to a man whose experience in pro football indeed runs deep.

In Lewis’ case, father often knows best.

“It helps a lot,” said Lewis. “He’s always telling me what certain scouts look for. He’s developed, helped shape me into the man I am today. It’s hard not to listen to him since he’s been all over the place and just about 99.9 percent of the things that he’s said are true. So it’s all good. I love it.”