FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – An AFC championship game rematch between Baltimore and New England wasn't even set before tough talk from the Ravens began.
Baltimore linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo took to Twitter in the first half of New England's divisional playoff game against the Houston Texans and started blasting the Patriots hurry-up offense as a gimmick and mocking the organization for the 2007 "SpyGate" scandal.
"In a sport that is predicated on mano y mano, 'let's hurry-up n snap it' = bitchassness," Ayanbadejo tweeted.....
.......Ayanbadejo, after waves of negative reaction, backtracked from his comments on Monday, offering an apology via Twitter.
"I made selfish comments on twitter last night that reflected poorly upon myself, my teammates, and the organization," he tweeted. "For that I apologize."
The Patriots, famed for their focus, seemed unconcerned by the talk.
"The best thing we do is ignore the noise," quarterback Tom Brady told WEEI on Monday. "Nothing anyone says is going to affect us next week."