FanHouse DavinHolly

This should instill fear in opposing offensive coordinators as they gameplan the Browns. You see, Cleveland has all sorts of potential, particularly on offense, but the secondary, to put it in wildly understated terms, lacks depth.

Leigh Bodden was traded to the Lions this spring, his replacement, Davin Holly was lost for the year during minicamp, and Gary Baxter was recently released. Which leaves Brandon McDonald and Eric Wright as the starting cornerbacks. Both are in their second seasons, and although the team is very high on Wright, McDonald has yet to prove that he can handle the full-time gig.

However things unfold, they're both confident in their abilities. Which is sorta important, I'd think:

"We have a lot of athletic ability," Wright said. "We're ready for the challenge. If guys want to throw at us, they'll be sorry later." ...

"Eric has a high confidence level and so do I," McDonald said. "I came in early for OTAs (in May) and I think I caught on pretty quickly. You're out there on an island. If you do get beat, you have to have a short memory and go on to the next play."

Eh, this comes up every season, usually more than once. Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward lays somebody out, and in the week that follows, all we hear is that he's a dirty player. Ward spent Friday defending the fact that he takes blocking seriously, even if unsuspecting defenders don't appreciate it.

"I'm not a dirty player," Ward said Friday in a telephone interview. "If I was trying to hurt somebody, I'd go low and try to take their knees out. It's a violent enough game as it is. I don't go out and try to intentionally hurt people."

Ward was fined $5,000 for this Week 1 hit on the Davin Holly that left the Browns' cornerback with a concussion. Holly told the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Mary Kay Cabot that he would try to light Ward up during today's get-together. Ward finds it all kinda funny:

"When you've got a guy talking about getting me back, he's got to understand that he's calling me out, too," Ward said. "If I had wanted to hurt Daven Holly, believe me, I could have. It's comical to me that these guys are all of a sudden worried about little old me."

Most recently, Ravens linebacker Bart Scott threatened to kill Ward after the YouTubes above happened, but Ward's heard it all before. Plus, it's not like Ward never takes a hit. The 49ers Patrick Willis put him on the shelf for three weeks with this. You see, because it's called football.

Previously at FanHouse
Hines Ward Ain't Afraid to Hit You in the Mouth