NFL teams
Mike Reiss, ESPN Staff Writer 12y

Bernard Pollard: Pats-killer rep 'fine'

NFL, New England Patriots, New York Giants

Baltimore Ravens safety Bernard Pollard on Tuesday lashed out at the New England Patriots, saying his reputation for injuring Patriots players was "fine and dandy" and that he hoped "the Giants put a thrashing on the Patriots" in Super Bowl XLVI.

While playing with the Kansas City Chiefs, Pollard inflicted the 2008 hit on quarterback Tom Brady that tore his ACL, was the nearest opposing player in the vicinity when receiver Wes Welker tore his ACL a season later (when playing with the Houston Texans) and most recently injured tight end Rob Gronkowski's ankle in Sunday's AFC Championship game.

"It's part of the game," Pollard said in an interview with Houston radio station KILT. "If you don't like it, so what? I am going to go out there and I'm going to play me."

He also twice referred to the Patriots as having a "dinking and dunking" offense.

"If the game got to overtime, we knew we were going to the Super Bowl," Pollard said of Sunday's AFC Championship game, which the Patriots won thanks to a missed Ravens field goal in the final seconds and a dropped pass in the end zone two plays earlier. "I think we played a really good game. We had some things where we made some mistakes or whatever, but just for the most part, dinking and dunking wasn't going to win in 22 seconds (if the Ravens scored and the Patriots got the ball back."

He also predicted the Patriots would have a hard time with the Giants in the Super Bowl.

"To lose to a team like (the Patriots), the way we played. We played a good game," Pollard said. "You have to look at what the Giants have -- they have a front four that's relentless, they have a secondary that is really, really good. They have a linebacking corps that has been with them. The (Patriots') dinking and dunking, man, it's just not going to happen. They're going to have to take shots down the field."

Mike Reiss covers the Patriots for ESPNBoston.com.

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