Jyles sorry for calling Sears a ‘dirty player’

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This article was published 25/07/2012 (4822 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Edmonton Eskimos quarterback Steven Jyles says he’s sorry for calling Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive back Johnny Sears a “dirty player” last week.

 “I will apologize to Johnny. I shouldn’t have said those things about him,” Jyles told reporters at Canad Inns Stadium Wednesday afternoon in advance of his club’s CFL regular season contest versus the Bombers Thursday evening.

 “One thing about Johnny that I like about him is that he plays hard…I will just tell the guy to keep playing hard, man. There’s no hard feelings. Like I say, I don’t hate the guy. I don’t even know him.”

 But when asked why he made the allegations in the first place, Jyles strangely seemed to repeat them again.

 “I didn’t want to paint a picture that he’s a bad guy. I think he makes dirty plays, he takes dirty shots. But that’s just the way he plays. And that’s what I was saying, he plays hard.

 “There’s times you can let up on a guy because you know he’s going down or he’s falling. But he’s going to come in and still try to get a (hit). That’s just the style he has. I’m not trying to say this guy’s dirty.”

 Jyles and Sears have had a feud that goes back to last season when Sears was suspended for a game for a helmet-on-helmet hit against Jyles that knocked the latter out of a game.

 Advised earlier this week of Jyles’s comments that he was dirty, Sears said he intended to settle the dispute on the field Thursday, within the rules.