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June 21, 2014Rex Ryan may have his panties in a bunch, but Mike Pettine isn’t backing down from comments that were made to SI.com’s Greg Bedard regarding opposing team playbooks.
Earlier this week, Pettine was the subject of a story wherein he was quoted saying that he keeps playbooks very simple out of fear that competitors could find one in their possession—only he specifically named the New England Patriots. This quote drew the ire of Ryan who inferred that Pettine was out of line in his comments to the media. On Friday, Pettine dug deeper in a discussion with PFT, saying that, if anything, his words were complimentary.
“Most playbooks are very broad,” Pettine said via phone from Hawaii, where he is vacationing. “We’ll have 80 [defensive formations] in a playbook, 30 in a game plan. We’ll add six or seven new ones for a given game. It’s a credit that [the Patriots] have been able to get that information. I didn’t mean to imply it was gathered illegally. . . . To me, it’s a sign of a smart team. We’re not actively pursuing playbooks, but when they fall in your laps, you’ll study it. That’s it.
“We’re all in the business of gathering information,” Pettine explained. “If I can get someone’s blueprint for how they build their offense or defense, of course I’m going to look at it.”
While both Bill Belichick and Nick Saban (who was dragged into the story) have denied any wrongdoing. Pettine reiterated that the Browns defensive playbook wouldn’t do many teams favors in it’s present form, saying that it’s just the skeleton—not the “meat on the bones.”
7 Comments
Hey Pettine, say hello to Holmgren while you’re there.
Coach, take a lesson from your QB: just stop talking!
Mike…
http://www.arcticblubber.com/gallery/d/497-1/stfu.gif
Hey Mike, talk all you want. Let Rex and Billy boy and whoever the hell else wants to get their panties in a bunch do so. As long as you come out swinging come September and leave ’em bloody and winless we got your back.
JUST WIN BABY
This Pettine character is a genius. Taking all the heat so that his QB can party like a rock-star without the media hounding him during the 7 weeks before training camp. Even called in a favor to his buddy Rex to keep the flames fanned. I wonder what he’ll come up with next.
Who cares?!