Rex Ryan takes exception to Jim Irsay's tweet about sitting QB Luck

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Rex Ryan took exception toColts owner Jim Irsay's suggestion that the reason Indianapolis satAndrew Luck was that the Buffalo Bills coach doesn't let up in the preseason.

"Take a look at the tapes, and see how many times we blitzed," Ryan said before pausing to collect his thoughts.

"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."

Ryan's comment was clearly directed at Irsay following Buffalo's preseason-opening 19-18 loss to the Colts on Saturday.

Two hours before the game, Irsay announced on his Twitter account that the Colts would wait until next week for Luck to make his first preseason start.

Irsay followed with a second tweet:

Pagano said it was his decision to sit Luck against Buffalo. Pagano didn't waver when reminded that he was prepared to have Luck play a week earlier against Green Bay in the Hall of Fame game, before it was canceled because of an unplayable field.

"It's one of the benefits that you get when you're the head coach," Pagano said with a smile. "You get to decide who plays and who doesn't play."

Without Luck, backups Scott Tolzien and Stephen Morris teamed up to pull off a victory.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.