The Tennessee Titans and Denver Broncos might be looking to settle some scores from last season when they meet Sunday at Nashville's LP Field.
After Denver's 26-20 victory last season, Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton accused Tennessee cornerback Cortland Finnegan of punching guard Chris Kuper when his helmet was off. The NFL later fined Finnegan $10,000.
"You always hear about how tough they are and all that stuff," Orton said after the game. "I don't think they're tough, I think they're cheap. And it was one of the cheapest games I've ever seen out of some of those players. If that's the type of player Cortland Finnegan wants to be, well then he's a cheap player, not a good player."
The Titans labeled Orton a "whiner," and Finnegan invited him back to town to settle their differences.
Orton stood by his comments this week, according to the Tennessean.
"I don't regret what I said," he told reported Wednesday. "It was a physical football game and a few plays and some stuff got out of hand," he said. " ... I don't take anything back."
For his part, Finnegan was diplomatic.
"I respect him. He is a really good quarterback," Finnegan said of Orton. "There's no bad blood, man. He has to take up for his guys. It's no big deal, man. I know before the game I'll shake his hand."
Titans defensive end Dave Ball took the bait that Finnegan refused.
"I did say he was a whiner. I stand by those comments," Ball said. "I have total respect for him in terms of where he is as a quarterback, but you don't need to say stuff to the officials to try and get calls out there. He was trying to get calls from the officials all game."
