Ventrone says Ravens ‘dirty’ birds on offense

Associated Press

Berea

The regular officials may have missed a few things in their first game back.

Browns safety Ray Ventrone said the Ravens were dirty birds.

“I know that they were playing dirty on offense,” Ventrone said Friday as Cleveland’s players regrouped after a 23-16 loss in Baltimore. “Watch the film, man. There was some dirty stuff going on.”

Thursday night’s prime-time game featured the return of the NFL’s regular officials after they reached agreement with the league on a new contract. Following three weeks of uneven officiating by the replacements — and a blown call in Monday’s Packers-Seahawks game — there were few, if any, problems as the Ravens beat the Browns for the ninth straight time.

However, Ventrone said the Ravens got away with some “extracurricular stuff.” He declined to provide any specifics, but thought the Ravens were targeting Cleveland’s secondary. Safety T.J. Ward injured his thumb and safety Usama Young and cornerback Tashaun Gipson sustained knee injuries.

“There was just stuff that was happening after the play, during the play,” said Ventrone, the Browns’ special teams dynamo who is playing despite recently undergoing surgery on a badly broken thumb. “There was some unnecessary stuff that was happening to our defensive backs most specifically.”

It’s not unusual for the Browns and Ravens to play a hard-hitting game, given their shared history and heated rivalry inside the rugged AFC North. Ventrone said there has been some questionable play in the past, but not as much as in this meeting.

“I don’t want to get into specifics just ‘cause I don’t want to be the guy to stir the pot,” said Ventrone, who was only on the field for four defensive snaps. “But I’m just saying I think they were doing a lot of extracurricular stuff.”

Ventrone stopped short of saying the Ravens’ aggressiveness and outside-the-rules actions resulted in any injuries to the Browns.

“No one was hurt by any of the stuff,” Ventrone said. “Thank God. But I think there were some cheap shots for sure.”

Ventrone also felt the Ravens were innocent of anything illegal when Browns return specialist Josh Cribbs was laid out on a punt return in the first quarter. Cribbs was struck by Ravens linebacker Dannell Ellerbe, who drilled Cribbs in the side of the helmet, sending it and the ball flying.

Cribbs’ head slammed to the turf and he was accidentally kicked in the face by one of the Ravens as players on both teams scrambled for the loose ball.

Ventrone, who served as a captain for the game, doesn’t believe the hit was malicious, but he couldn’t speak for what happened after it.