Browns defensive coordinator Rob Ryan said Bengals guard Nate Livings was the one delivering cheap shots during last week's game, not T.J. Ward.
Updated at 9:10 p.m.
Browns defensive coordinator Rob Ryan says Bengals guard Nate Livings was playing dirty Sunday, not T.J. Ward.CLEVELAND -- Browns defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, when asked about T.J. Ward's hit on Bengals receiver Jordan Shipley, said the Bengals have no room to talk when accusing Ward of a cheap shot.
Pulling out a sticky note with all the pertinent facts on it, Ryan accused Bengals guard Nate Livings of several cheap shot against Browns linebacker Scott Fujita.
"There's a big hullabaloo about this penalty but (heck) those guys need to shut up,'' said Ryan. "This is our team, they don’t coach our team. We do. (Heck) if they want to worry about a cheap shot they ought to look at first and 10 on the 35, third quarter, 4:24 left, make sure you get that down and watch their guard Nate Livings. Our kids played great the whole game. They want to (complain) about him and he hit a guy in the face. This kid hits our guy in the back after he got a sack for a forced fumble, (Scott) Fujita, and a blocked field goal over him.
"Then this kid dives and hits him in the back of the legs. If you want to talk about cheap, talk about this (expletive). Excuse me, Nate Livings. We are the least penalized defense in football. If we aren’t, we are always one of the tops. That’s how we teach. We teach a hard, tough, smart brand of football. We don’t give away yardage. People think we are out to hurt them, we are out to hit them. We are not out to hurt anybody or maim anybody, we are out to hit them and they are going to get hit. To be honest with you, I think we took Cincinnati’s best shot, and we won. That’s the facts.”
Hillis, Delhomme questionable: Running back Peyton Hillis (thigh), quarterback Jake Delhomme (ankle) and center Alex Mack (shoulder) are among seven players who are listed as questionable for Sunday's game against Atlanta.
Hillis, who suffered a strained thigh in practice this week, sat out Friday's session, but said he'll be "perfectly fine" for the game. Offensive coordinator Brian Daboll said, "From my understanding, it's more precautionary than anything else. I think he'll be ready to go. It's never good [to have someone miss practice]."
As for Delhomme, Mangini said he'll wait until Saturday to make his decision. Like each of the past three weeks, he won't announce it until game time. He said he wanted to see a full week's work before he made his decision.
"He's starting to move around better so we'll see," said Daboll.
Mack said he got "hit funny" diving for a fumble during the Bengals game. He sat out Wednesday and Thursday and was limited Friday. "We'll see how everything feels," he said. "It's the trainers' decision."
The other questionable players are: defensive ends Kenyon Coleman (knee) and Robaire Smith (back), nose tackle Shaun Rogers (hip, ankle) and safety Nick Sorensen. Right tackle John St. Clair (ankle) is out.