Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis called Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel a “midget” in a radio interview Monday when asked if the Browns quarterback decision would affect how the Bengals prepared for this week’s game in Cleveland.
It didn’t take long for Lewis to offer up an apology for the statement.
According to Paul Dehner Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer, Lewis issued an apology Monday night for the comment.
“I apologize to Johnny and the Browns and all the fans in Cleveland,” Lewis said. “It was just a poor remark. I really didn’t mean anything by it.”
Lewis answered the question by saying they wouldn’t change their strategy based on which quarterback is expected to play.
“You’ll get a little bit more movement if Manziel’s the quarterback, the thing that they did against Buffalo. But other than that, no, that doesn’t impact you at all. You gotta go defend the offense. You don’t defend the player.”
Lewis paused, then added: “Particularly a midget.”
Lewis was likely just trying to add a moment of levity to the interview and just made a poor choice of words, since the term “midget” is generally considered to be insensitive to people of smaller stature.