Mangini, Schwartz clear the air

Browns coach Eric Mangini said he cleared the air with Lions coach Jim Schwartz after Mangini accused the Lions of faking injuries to slow down the no-huddle offense during Detroit's 38-37 victory Sunday at Ford Field.

According to the official play-by-play, on six occasions the game was stopped by injuries to five different Lions defenders and all returned to the game.

Schwartz responded Monday to the accusations, saying Mangini was ''way out of bounds on that one.''

''I talked to Jim for a while,'' Mangini said Wednesday. ''We cleared the air. I like Jim, we've always had a good relationship so we talked through that. The bottom line is we didn't do enough to win the game. Jim and I are fine.''

Mangini and Schwartz began their NFL careers in Cleveland under Bill Belichick, Schwartz in 1993, Mangini in 1994.

When Mangini was asked about making excuses for a loss when the Browns blew a 24-3 first quarter lead, he said, ''It wasn't like I was trying to shy away from accountability. At the end of the day, we're accountable for losing the game and for not making enough plays. That's me, that's the coaches, that's the players.

''I was frustrated with the situation and probably expressed that more than I probably should have, but at the end of the day we're responsible for it. We had plenty of opportunities to win the game and we didn't.''