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Sports of The Times: Rex Ryan’s Slap, Meant for Opponent’s Face, Hits League’s Instead

Just when you think you’ve seen Rex Ryan at his most acute state of tone-deafness, he outdoes himself.

Last week, Ryan, the Buffalo Bills’ first-year coach, trotted out Richie Incognito as one of his team’s captains when the Bills played the Dolphins in Buffalo. The gesture was clearly intended as a slap in the face to the Dolphins, who suspended Incognito in 2013 for his part in a locker-room bullying scandal that led to an N.F.L. investigation and put a stain on the league’s reputation.

It was also nothing new for Ryan, who has used his game captains as a thumb in the eye of an opponent on several occasions.