October 22nd, 2009 
Matt Loede 
Posted in Rex Ryan wants his team to be tough, not dirty.
The Jets coach benched safety James Ihedigbo and linebacker Marques Murrell for the their next game because he thought they took things too far by throwing punches at Buffalo’s Derek Fine during a 16-13 overtime loss last weekend.
“Quite honestly, that’s not the way we’re going to play football,” Ryan said Thursday, speaking for the first time about his decision. “We want to be the most physical team in the National Football League within the confinements of the rules.
“What they did was selfish, I thought.”
Ihedigbo and Murrell each were fined $5,000 by the NFL for their actions Sunday, and Ryan plans to make both players inactive for New York’s game at Oakland.
“This is best for our team that these two understand that we’re not going to tolerate it and our football team understands that’s not how we play football,” Ryan said. “That’s not being tough. That’s not being physical, the kind of physical play that I want. There’s no excuse for it and the two young men know that.”
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