FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- Rex Ryan wants his team to be tough, not dirty.
The New York Jets coach benched safety James Ihedigbo and linebacker Marques Murrell for the next game because he believes they took things too far by throwing punches at Buffalo Bills tight end 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."
The NFL fined Ihedigbo and Murrell $5,000 each for their actions, and Ryan plans to make both players inactive for the Jets' Sunday 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."
Ihedigbo was blocking on the opening kickoff of overtime when Murrell knocked Fine's helmet off and struck him in an eye. Ihedigbo then took a swing at Fine, was assessed a personal-foul penalty and ejected from the game. Murrell wasn't penalized.
Ihedigbo said Wednesday that he didn't realize he had thrown a punch until he watched it on replay after the game.
"They got carried away," Ryan said. "Both of them took a swing at a guy. The guy was swinging and was hitting our guys at the same time, but still there's no excuse to throw a punch at somebody. I'm just not going to have that on our team, and that's it. This is a tough lesson for our team, but it's one I think we have to do."
Ryan has given his players the freedom to speak freely in the media since he took over as coach in January, but he has made it clear he won't tolerate any actions that he deems as selfish.
Ryan benched David Clowney earlier this season after the wide receiver's practice habits were slipping and he complained on Twitter about his playing time.
"I wanted to do what I thought was fair," Ryan said. "It's a punishment not going to a game, but it also hurts our team. The same thing with David. Sometimes you have to weigh what's best for the team."
Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press
