Matt Ryan appreciates Arthur Blank, isn't worried about Kenny Vaccaro hit

Kenny Vaccaro is a bad man. I don't like him. As for Matt Ryan, he doesn't hold grudges, at least not publicly. And while he understands Arthur Blank's recent frustration, Ryan apparently wants his teammates to play smart football.

"I understand where Arthur is coming from. I understand that he has his opinion and that's the way that he feels. And I appreciate that from him because he has my back ... there's a line and you've got to play on that line, but not over the line. And you've got to play smart. In that situation specifically, a penalty or something like that when we're in the red zone, we're going down to score points, that can change the outcome of the game."

What a canned, politically correct response! No really, I know Ryan is an upstanding guy, but I can't imagine he just doesn't care. He did play with Harvey Dahl, after all. It's more likely that Ryan is simply trying to have his teammates' backs, exactly what he expects from them.

For Ryan, a tenacious, capable offensive line would make all the difference. You always hear that attitude is huge in the trenches, and that's not said so often because it isn't true. In short, Ryan doesn't need to cajole his offensive line, at least not via the media. Blank can do that, because he owns the team. But for Ryan, I'm sure he'd prefer that they just do their jobs, without prompting and as a matter of course.

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