The last time Ed Dickson tangled with Taylor Mays, the Ravens tight end was on the receiving end of a blow from the Cincinnati Bengals strong safety that an official called “helmet-to-helmet with a defenseless receiver.”
The two will meet again Sunday, but Dickson said he has no beef with Mays, who was fined $21,000 for the infraction.
“I’m actually really cool with Taylor Mays off the field,” said Dickson, who has been friends with Mays since Dickson played at the University of Oregon and Mays played at USC.
“I know what type of player he wants to be. He wants to be a hard-hitting safety and stuff like that. So I didn’t take it personally at all. We’ll talk before the game, and I’ll give him some [grief]. He probably thinks it was a legal hit, but I’ll let him know. ‘Did you watch it?’ and stuff like that. That’s the type of people we are, and I wouldn’t expect him play any other way. Just hard. You’ve got to be looking out for those players. When you’re playing in rivalries like that, you’ve got to look for them to give their all. That’s throughout our division. I’ve been hit like that by [free safety Ryan] Clark from the [Pittsburgh] Steelers, but we’re really cool off the field as well.”
Dickson said he and Mays saw each other during their teams’ bye week.
“I was at the airport and he was with [Bengals middle linebacker] Rey Maualuga and they were coming from Arizona, from the SC game, and I kind of gave him [grief],” Dickson said. “Usually every year, we have a gentlemen’s bet on the SC-Oregon game. If Oregon wins, I tell him, ‘Next time, you’ve got dinner.’ We battle on the field, but off the field, we’re kind of close.”