Ray Rice’s wife regrets role she played in assault

Ray Rice and his wife Janay met with the media on Friday. (Twitter/@Ravens)

For the first time since being charged with assault in February, Ravens running back Ray Rice held a press conference. Rice was joined by his wife Janay on Friday, the woman whom he was accused of assaulting after the two had an altercation at a casino in Atlantic City, N.J.

It's not clear what exactly led to the incident, but Rice's wife still showed remorse for what happened. "I do deeply regret the role that I played in the incident that night," Janay Rice said.

Janay Rice didn't elaborate on the role she played, although a February court summons stated that she tried to hit her husband, who then knocked her unconscious.

The couple has gone through counseling and Janay says that things are now better.

"I can say that I am happy that we continue to work through it together, and we are continuing to strengthen our relationship and our marriage and working to being better parents for Ravyn and continuing to be role models," Janay Rice said.

Ray Rice, who's been accepted into a pretrial intervention program that should allow him to avoid jail time, also spoke during the press conference. Neither Rice or his wife took any questions though.

"One thing I will say is that sometimes in life, we will fail, but I don't call myself a failure," Rice said. "Failure is not getting knocked down, it's not getting up. One thing I do know that I've been working every day to be a better father, a better husband and just a better role model."

Rice then pointed out that he thought marriage counseling had been working.

"One thing is that we've been blessed to work it out together," Rice said. "Not every relationship is perfect, but me and Janay together, what counseling has done for us, we want the world to see it definitely did help us out."

The Rice's were married in late March, just one day after Ray was officially indicted on a third-degree aggravated assault charge.

"I'm still the same guy you know," Rice said. "As me and Janay wish we can take back 30 seconds of our life, we are better parents, better lovers, and we're also better friends after this situation"

As for any punishment Rice might face, Ravens team president Dick Cass told the Baltimore Sun that Rice will be meeting with Roger Goodell in the near future. ESPN.com reports that Rice could be facing up to a three-game suspension.

NFL Hot News

Bengals integrating RB Giovani Bernard more into passing game



We know the Bengals aren't going to throw the ball as much as last season. A strong running game is at the center of offensive coordinator Hue Jackson's philosophy. Of course, Giovani Bernard will have a big role in that aspect of the game. But the Bengals are also looking for someone who can replace Andrew Hawkins after the diminutive and quick slot receiver left Cincinnati to continue his NFL career in Cleveland. It sounds like Bernard can be the man for that job, too.According to Paul Dehner Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Bengals are finding ways to include Bernard more often as a receiver."We want to do more with him because he can do that," running backs coach Kyle Caskey said of Bernard. "It's not just put him in the slot. We want him everywhere on the field. Make people guess where's he at. ... He's a lot like Reggie Bush where you have to be aware at all times."Bernard's receiving skills were well known long before he played his first down in the league. He caught 56 passes as a rookie last season, which made up about 25 percent of his total touches. He dropped just four of 60 catchable passes.



While BenJarvus Green-Ellis and rookie Jeremy Hill fight it out to see who will be the Bengals' short-yardage and goal-line back, Bernard will be doing just about everything else. He is an extremely talented and versatile player in a great system for him to thrive. The more creative the Bengals are with Bernard, the better he'll be for fantasy purposes. Just give him the ball and let it go. Bernard is an RB1 in PPR leagues.