Greg Little has vengeance on the mind against the Cleveland Browns on Thursday night.
The Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver was released by the Browns in May after three largely disappointing seasons. The former second-round pick caught on with the Bengals last month after being cut by the Oakland Raiders.
"Everything about this game is personal for me and I'm going to treat it that way," Little said Tuesday, according to The Plain Dealer. "And I'm going to put my team in the best position to win."
Little believes Browns general manager Ray Farmer was "100 percent" behind his exit in Cleveland, but the receiver saved his sharpest barbs for Browns coach Mike Pettine.
"I did not get along with Pettine," he said. "Pettine doesn't talk with any of his players. Like you will walk past him in the hallway and he won't even speak to you. To have that type of (approach) for a coach is kind of odd. I can't go out and say I'm going to lay it on the line for a guy who won't even speak to me if we were the only two people in the hallway."
Little was asked if he ever spoke with Pettine.
"He never spoke to anybody," he said.
When asked about Little's comments, Pettine had quite a bit to say: "It's unfortunate. The one thing I really pride myself on is communication -- not just with the players -- but with the staff and the building, 'cause I think that's important. It's very much -- you learn as a coach that it's less about the X's and O's and more about relationships and the human side of things than people would think."
"Greg's a guy that we felt was very talented but just was not a fit for us long-term-wise."
Farmer declined to comment further and wished "all the best to Greg Little."
Little's grudge is slightly odd, considering the Browns appeared to give him every chance to pan out across three seasons and 41 starts. In that time, Little was pretty much best known for drops and speeding tickets. Whatever motivates you, I guess.
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