Rex Ryan not pleased after Jim Irsay implies reason behind Andrew Luck benching

Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay implied that Rex Ryan’s penchant for blitzing during preseason was behind Andrew Luck being held out of Saturday’s game against the Bills, and Ryan wasn’t exactly having it.

Two hours before game time, Irsay announced on Twitter that Luck would not start the game, and said in a followup tweet that the Bills coach essentially does not know the meaning of the word “preseason.”

Colts Fans; it's a long Pre-Season and 2 Home Games are coming in the next 2 Weeks..Look for #12 to make 1st Start then instead of tonight.

— Jim Irsay (@JimIrsay) August 13, 2016

…. Yes,there is some truth on this dark,rainy night; that my good friend Rex…has never heard of the word…. PRESEASON?!!!

— Jim Irsay (@JimIrsay) August 13, 2016

Ryan shot back at these implications when asked about them after the game.

“Take a look at the tapes, and see how many times we blitzed,” Ryan said, via ESPN. “I can tell you one thing, [Colts coach] Chuck Pagano’s a good friend of mine, a legitimate, good friend of mine. I have way more respect for him than I do others.”

Yeah, like Ryan was going to take that sort of criticism lying down. He doesn’t with anyone else. The Colts are well within their rights to play Luck as much or as little as they want, but maybe Irsay should try to avoid stirring the pot.