Jeff Blake is harboring no resentment toward the New Orleans Saints, the team that signed him to a four-year contract, then dumped him two years into it and anointed Aaron Brooks the franchise quarterback.

Blake said he has let go of any hurt feelings he may have had, and considering his current situation as the Ravens' starter for the remainder of the year, Blake should have.

For in the same way Blake lost his job to injury in the middle of the 2000 season, allowing Brooks to take over, Blake has taken advantage of Chris Redman's back injury, going 3-3 and drawing enough confidence from the coaching staff to be named starter for the Ravens' attempted playoff run, a stretch that begins with Sunday's home game against New Orleans.

Depending on how this season plays out, the Ravens may commit to a multi-year deal with Blake and give him the job security he has longed for much of his 11-year career.

"I'm playing now, and that's all that really matters to me," Blake said. "What happened then, happened then, and I let it go. I tend to focus on the task at hand that we have as a team and that is to win the rest of these games and make it to the playoffs."

This is the third time over the past month Blake has fielded revenge questions after having to twice play the Cincinnati Bengals, where he spent six years.

He will enter Sunday's game with a backing he did not have in those games. Ravens coach Brian Billick said Monday that Redman will remain the backup and Blake has done nothing to warrant a change.

"Anybody likes security, any man or any woman," Blake said. "It is just a different way of thinking, different mentality.

"If you go out and you have a bad game, there was a possibility [Redman] would be right there waiting, after the game or next week. I'm not saying I was dwelling on that, but it was in the back of my mind."

Now Blake is feeling more like Brooks felt all of last year. After Blake's foot injury in 2000, the Saints were supposed to have had an open competition the next preseason, but that never materialized, and Brooks started every game despite a total team collapse the last quarter of the season.

"When Jeff lost his job due to injury, it was hard," said Saints running back Deuce McAllister, a backup last year and the current leading rusher in the NFC. "But Jeff didn't complain, didn't fuss. He tried to help out as much as possible."

Blake, who signed a $17.4 million contract with a $5 million signing bonus, was cut after throwing just one incomplete pass the entire year and eventually signed a one-year deal with the Ravens. The season before, Blake was 7-3 as a starter, completed 60.9 percent of his passes and threw 13 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

"We let Aaron take all the reps with the first group, and Jeff worked his way in there," Saints coach Jim Haslett said of Blake's attempt to regain the job. "I don't know if [the competition] was open or not. It was a deal where we thought both of them were good football players, and at the time, the younger guy was who we were going to go with."

And it became impossible to keep both quarterbacks.

"It's hard to have a lot of guys who are making a lot of money," Haslett said. "And Jeff was making a lot of money."

With the sweep of Cincinnati, Blake is 2-1 in games against his former teams, including a 31-14 loss when he was with the Bengals in 1997 to the New York Jets. Blake played his first two seasons in New York.

"I think you saw last week that Jeff's a professional," Billick said. "He takes it in stride. It had to be a big week for him last week, going back into Cincinnati. He was two years in New Orleans, six or seven years in Cincinnati. He was very calm and under control, not over-hyped. He understands the magnitude of the game."

Which, for the Ravens, could decide whether they make a legitimate run at the playoffs.

"I have a lot of good memories, made a lot of big plays," Blake said. "I was only there a short period of time, so you can't accumulate too many memories. But I don't have to prove anything to them."

NOTE: The Ravens practiced outside on one of their grass fields despite the snow that covered the region yesterday. It was an abbreviated practice, but Billick said the team was able to get everything done.

Next for Terps

Matchup:No. 21 Maryland (10-3) vs. Tennessee (8-4) in Peach Bowl

Site:Georgia Dome, Atlanta

When:Dec. 31, 7:30 p.m.

TV/Radio:ESPN/WBAL (1090 AM)