Showalter responds to Ryan's scheduling criticism

BALTIMORE -- New York Jets coach Rex Ryan raised a few eyebrows Thursday when he lashed out at the Orioles and Major League Baseball for keeping the O's at home on Sept. 5, the same night the defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens are scheduled to open the NFL season.

The NFL schedule, announced Thursday, has the Ravens opening on the road in Denver to avoid a scheduling conflict with the Orioles, who host the White Sox on Sept. 5 at 7:05 p.m. ET.

"I understand the Orioles are playing a game at home. Well, who really cares?" Ryan told reporters on a conference call. "You've got 81 of them things at home and maybe you could've done the right thing and given one up and played 82 on the road and 80 at home. I really don't think people are going to care about that game."

Orioles manager Buck Showalter, who noted that he filled out the Ravens' schedule in his planner in order to attend a game or two, said the combustible Jets coach, a former Baltimore assistant, has bigger issues on his hands.

"He ought to be a little more concerned about Nov. 24, when the Jets come here, and try to figure out a way to beat the Ravens," Showalter said. "That would be a little bit more of a challenge. I try to stay out of things I don't know about. I don't know about the NFL schedule or the NFL's challenges. That would be my advice."