Cleveland's off to an 0-4 start, thanks in no small part to a miserable defense that has allowed more yards per game (403.2) than any team in the league and is No. 31 in points allowed (118).But the Browns' bumbling hasn't kept defensive coordinator Rob Ryan from flapping his gums prior to this week's game at Buffalo. Friday, Ryan -- twin brother of loud-mouthed (and, thus far, more successful) Jets head coach Rex Ryan) -- called out Bills QB Trent Edwards.
"I don't think that's [Bengals quarterback] Carson Palmer back there by any stretch," Ryan said of Edwards.
"The guy can run and do some things, but we've played Brett Favre, we've played Carson Palmer. Those are two pretty good quarterbacks right there. This guy [Edwards] always seems to have a lot to say, so I'm going to say the same thing: Let's go. Let's get it on, see what he's all about this week.''
Hard to say what exactly brought on Ryan's diatribe against Edwards, but The Buffalo News speculates that it may be an after-effect of a game last season when Edwards' Bills rallied past the Raiders, where Ryan was coaching the defense at the time. After tossing for a career-high 279 yards in that Buffalo victory, Edwards said that the Bills' offense wore down Oakland's D.
Hopefully, there's some other background story that we're not aware of, because that's about the weakest bulletin board material ever.
It's also a bit hard to figure how Ryan could be bad-mouthing anyone at this point, given what his defense has done through four games. No one's going to argue that Edwards is an MVP candidate, but even he might find some openings against a Cleveland defense than ranks 29th against the pass.




