BEREA, Ohio (AP) -Cleveland Browns coach Romeo Crennel will handle any possible punishment for Braylon Edwards behind closed doors.

Too bad the volatile wide receiver doesn't have a similar privacy policy.

On Monday, Edwards expressed embarrassment and remorse for his sideline tirade during the second half of Cleveland's 30-0 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, the latest outburst by a second-year player quickly building a troublesome track record.

Edwards blamed ``my passion for the game'' for his tantrum during which he screamed at quarterback Charlie Frye, grabbed the QB's jersey and shouted at other teammates as he stomped around.

After sliding through a pack of reporters waiting at his locker, Edwards, who didn't comment following Sunday's game, explained his actions.

``The behavior I showed on the sidelines was unparalleled for myself,'' he said. ``I've never been that type of guy to be a distraction to the team. The biggest thing I was trying to do was show how compassionate I was about the game. I mean, this isn't a soft sport. We don't play chess. This isn't swimming. This isn't one of those kind of sports. It's football. It takes a man to play this game, and to play this game you have to have passion.''

Edwards never directly apologized but he clearly regretted what happened. He said he grabbed Frye's jersey ``in reference to something else. We'll keep that in-house, but my actions definitely were not against Charlie.''

Edwards reportedly yanked Frye by the shoulder to make a point about how the offensive line needed to do a better job of keeping the shellshocked quarterback's uniform clean.

``I wish I could do it back,'' Edwards said, ``but I can't.''

Crennel said any discipline against Edwards would be handled internally. His options would be to suspend, fine or bench the former first-round pick who earlier this season yelled at some of Cleveland's offensive linemen on the sideline during a game.

Crennel may choose to do nothing.

``We are going to talk to Braylon and we are going to determine how we'll deal with it,'' Crennel said. ``We are going to keep it in-house. It's family business and I'm not going to put it in the press.''

Even before his rant on Sunday, Edwards was already on thin ice with Crennel and his teammates.

Last week, Edwards criticized Cleveland's conservative offensive play calling and then questioned teammate Brian Russell's hard hit on Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson earlier this season.

Edwards, who had just two receptions for 29 yards against the Bengals, doesn't believe he should be disciplined.

``All I did was show I cared about the game,'' he said. ``It's not like I fought anybody. It's not like I gave the bird to somebody in the stands or anything like that.''

Maybe so, but Edwards' public display of frustration couldn't have come at a worse time for the Browns (3-8), who before being shut out by the NFL's lowest-ranked defense were showing some signs of progress in Crennel's second year.

However, the Browns were overwhelmed by the Bengals, and the lopsided loss was made worse by Edwards' tirade, which Crennel called an isolated incident and not one indicative of an undisciplined team.

``You are talking about one or two guys,'' Crennel said. ``If you had 45 guys out of control, you could say that.''

Crennel may need to punish Edwards at some level or risk losing his team - if he hasn't already.

``I'll do what's best for the team,'' he said.

Edwards acknowledged that he was wrong in airing his beliefs for the world to see. Next time he's upset, he promises to handle things differently.

``I shouldn't have blew up at all,'' he said. ``I should have just waited until the game was over with and talked to whoever I had to talk to. That's the way I should have handled it. I shouldn't have let the media see me on the sidelines. I shouldn't have exploded like I did.''

And while Edwards displayed sincerity and remorsefulness over Sunday's incident, he also took a swipe at some of his teammates for not sharing his desire to win.

``As a whole, I think we need to show more passion,'' he said. ``I don't believe I'm throwing anybody under the bus by saying that. If you lose 30 to zip, obviously you're not showing passion.''

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