Vikings Pro Bowl defensive end Jared Allen spent much of Sunday verbally sparring with Ravens rookie left tackle Michael Oher. However, after the game Allen shrugged off a question about what happened.
"I don't think I've met one rookie that hasn't tried to talk," said Allen, who finished with a sack, seven tackles, four tackles for a loss and two quarterback hurries. "Maybe it's a confidence builder for themselves. He'll be all right. He's a good player."
In the Ravens locker room, Oher was not being quite as kind to Allen despite the fact the veteran got the best of the battle early on and Oher had a pair of false-start penalties . "In the second half, I feel like I shut him out," Oher said. "There is nothing really special about him. I think if we played them [in Baltimore], it would make a big difference. The false starts were just mistiming the snap."
Allen got a chance to repond today on a Foxsports.com show called the "After Party with Jay Glazer" and this time Allen did not hold back.
"Well that's just some idiot trying to talk himself up," Allen said. "I beat that dude like a red-headed step child, let's be honest. If he was so good why did they have to chip me all day? Ask him that. That's just a rookie trying to build his self confidence up. Besides, you lost and your quarterback spent his whole day on the back of his head until the fourth quarter. That guy [Oher] will watch film today and realize. Everybody else in the world saw me abuse him."
Oher, a first-round pick of the Ravens this spring, was starting in place of Jared Gaither, who was out for a second consecutive game because of a neck injury.
