Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo watched the Patriots beat the Texans, and he wasn’t impressed.
Ayanbadejo, whose Ravens will travel to New England on Sunday for the AFC Championship Game, wrote on Twitter during the Patriots-Texans game that he thinks the Patriots’ offense is a “gimmick,” and that the Patriots do things that he views as cheap shots.
Although Ayanbadejo plays linebacker, he actually won’t see much of the Patriots’ offense on Sunday: Ayanbadejo is almost exclusively a special teams player, and he didn’t get a single snap on defense on Saturday against the Broncos. But Ayanbadejo didn’t only talk about the Patriots’ offense. Ayanbadejo also brought up the Spygate scandal, when the Patriots and coach Bill Belichick were disciplined by the league office for taping opposing coaches in violation of league rules, and the fact that New England cut wide receiver Tiquan Underwood the day before the Super Bowl last year.
It’s surprising that Ayanbadejo, an intelligent man who’s well respected around the NFL, would choose to give the Patriots bulletin-board material heading into the AFC Championship week. Perhaps Ayanbadejo was trying to fire up his own teammates. He has certainly assured that the Patriots will be fired up to see him on Sunday.