'Try And Break It': Browner Tells Patriots To Target Injured Seahawks
PHOENIX (CBSNewYork/AP) — Brandon Browner is telling his New England teammates not to hold back against Seattle's Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas.
In an interview with ESPN, Browner talked about the toughness both Sherman and Thomas showed in the NFC championship game playing with injuries. Sherman suffered a sprained elbow, while Thomas suffered a separated shoulder.
But Browner said he would also target those injuries.
"I'm going to tell my teammates go hit that elbow, or go hit that shoulder," Browner said in the interview.
Asked if he would tell his teammates that, Browner said, "Most definitely."
"Hit it. Try and break it if you can. You're going to be my best friend after the game, but at the end of the day I know you want the Super Bowl as bad as I do," Browner said.
Asked about Browner's comments, Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin didn't seem to take offense.
"I would expect nothing less. This is the Super Bowl. What do you expect?" Baldwin said. "I understand the fans want it to be classy, said publicly, and everything to be said politically correct, but that is the truth of the matter. We want this game just as much as they do and they want this game just as much as we do. I expect nothing less from Brandon Browner. We go after them in an aggressive fashion just as much as they are going to go after us."
Seattle linebacker K.J. Wright wasn't as forgiving.
"I didn't know he said that, but we don't play like that," Wright said, according to ESPN. "We don't go out there and try to hurt guys. And I don't care if they do have an injury. We're not going out there trying to hurt people, and especially guys you're close to."
"If you know a player's injured, you don't try to re-hurt him," he added. "You just try to play ball and play hard. But as far as going out there and targeting certain areas, that's unacceptable and shouldn't be in football."
At media day on Tuesday, Browner said Sherman responded via text message:
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