CLEVELAND (AP) – The NFL warned Browns defensive tackle Gerard Warren for comments he made about trying to hit Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in the head in Sunday’s game.

“We notified the team, including Gerard Warren, that if a player commits a flagrant foul after making such a statement, it may be a decisive factor supporting the suspension of the player, depending on the entire set of circumstances,” NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said.

Warren told reporters Thursday that the Browns needed to rattle Roethlisberger.

“One rule they used to tell me: Kill the head and the body’s dead,” Warren said.

He said if the Browns can shake the confidence in Pittsburgh’s rookie, they might be able to stun the Steelers.

“I didn’t say knock him out of the game, I said just go across his head a time or two,” said Warren, who was fined $35,000 in his rookie season for a cheap shot on former quarterback Mark Brunell.

Asked if Warren’s history factored into the warning, Aiello said: “It’s standard procedure if comments of that nature are made.”

On Friday, Warren said he was not speaking for the Cleveland organization.

“People might have taken it in the wrong sense,” he said. “That’s just me and explaining the way I approach football. I play it on a violent level and it’s a violent game.”

Warren, who has battled injuries, has just six tackles and two sacks in four games this season.

AP-ES-11-12-04 2100EST