On a hurting knee and without playing his normally full load, linebacker Ed Hartwell still managed to lead the Ravens with 12 tackles in yesterday's 13-12 win over Tennessee.

Hartwell was questionable heading into the game after taking an awkward fall on his knee in Thursday's practice. Realizing how much his presence was needed because Ray Lewis was out with calf and shoulder injuries, Hartwell gave it a go, deciding to play during pre-game warm-ups.

"The first day I tested it was [yesterday]," Hartwell said. "I went out there in warm-ups and put it on the line and said I was going to go hard. If I tweak it, I tweak it."

Hartwell, normally the linebacker in passing situations, had those duties relieved by rookie Bart Scott, who had a key first-quarter interception.

"That gave me a chance to get some of the stress off my leg," Hartwell said. "It also gave Bart a chance to get in there and show that he's a ballplayer, too. That's a secret weapon that we have."

Ravens coach Brian Billick singled out Hartwell in his post-game news conference.

"An Eddie Hartwell, with the injury he had, where we are at in our season, could have easily sat this one out," Billick said. "For him to go back in and play with that injury the way he did ... what the defense did was incredible."

On call for guard duty

The Ravens ended up using their third-string left guard, who actually is the backup tackle, in trying to preserve their second-half lead.

Jason Thomas entered the game after Casey Rabach left with a burner -- or temporary nerve injury -- midway in the third quarter. Rabach was in for Edwin Mulitalo, who aggravated a back strain while blocking on the Ravens' extra-point attempt in the first quarter.

"Casey normally backs up both guards, and I normally back up both tackles," Thomas said. "With Ed going down, they basically told me I'm in if any of the five go down.

"I hadn't been there in three, four weeks. But if you can block, you can block. During the week, I try and get in a couple of snaps everywhere, but I didn't play left guard at all last week. But it's like riding a bike."

Mulitalo's status will be evaluated this week.

Tate fills in for Porter

Cornerback Alvin Porter got a quick hook midway through the first quarter. Porter, subbing for an injured Chris McAlister (ankle), was replaced by Robert Tate after Steve McNair completed a 30-yard pass on his side.

Tate played the rest of the game, a surprise even to himself.

"But I practiced like I was going to play because of injuries," Tate said. "I always practice hard. When one person goes down or something happens to somebody, the next guy has to hold their own. Every corner can go out and start in this league."

Blake vs. Billick

Quarterback Jeff Blake's sideline arguments with Billick were nothing new for the 11-year veteran.

Blake and Billick were caught having numerous heated discussions as the Ravens' offense failed to get much going most of the afternoon and netted 199 total yards.

"It was nothing more than what [former Cincinnati Bengals coach] Bruce Coslet got fired up about," Blake said. "Bruce cursed me from A to Z one time.

"It was just frustration. In the course of the game, it's going to be three bad plays you have on offense. ... But once you watch the game film, you're going to be like it's not that bad because it's never as bad as you think it is."

Ogden's opinion

Ravens left tackle Jonathan Ogden was asked on a couple occasions about the team's offensive play-calling, which in the first half featured nine running plays and eight passing plays.

Each time, a grin appeared on the face of the 6-foot-8, 340-pound Ogden before he declined to take the media's bait.

"Our offensive line, we like to run the ball, but we understand that you have to mix it up in order to be successful in this league," said Ogden, who went straight off the field to talk to Billick after a "three and out" in the third quarter.

Asked what was discussed, Ogden, still grinning, said he was just letting Billick know what was going on out there.

The blame game

At the time it happened, it appeared Jamal Lewis was at fault for the fourth-quarter fumble on the Titans' 13-yard line with 10 minutes to play. It looked as if Lewis just dropped the handoff, but as it turns out, Lewis -- as well as everyone else on offense except Blake -- was expecting a pass.

Blake mistakenly thought he had audibled to a running play, thus the confusion.

"That wasn't Jamal's fault," Billick said. "I'll leave it at that. I'm not going to point blame at anyone here."

George still struggles

Eddie George's futility continued in Baltimore. The 6-3, 236-pound running back, who had averaged 46.3 yards a game and 2.8 a carry in the previous eight games against the Ravens, seemed tentative in rushing for 61 yards -- with a long run of 10 -- and grabbing two passes for 11 yards.

He dropped at least three balls, one in the end zone, and was lifted during the final two drives of the fourth quarter.

End zone

The pre-game food drive outside the stadium netted 15,000 pounds of food and $8,500. ... The win was the 40th of Billick's career. ... The Ravens' inactive players were Chris Redman, McAlister, Ray Lewis, Mike Collins, Damion Cook, Brandon Stokley and Michael McCrary.

Sun staff writers Lem Satterfield and Jeff Zrebiec contributed to this article.