Corey Dillon told his side of his domestic violence arrest Tuesday morning to Bengals owner Mike Brown, and Brown said later the incident appears to be “overblown” and expects it to “fade away.”

Corey Dillon

        Dillon, the club's Pro Bowl running back, was arrested Saturday in Federal Way, Wash., and remains under investigation for fourth-degree assault.

        Dillon, during an informal news conference at Paul Brown Stadium, said he could not go into specific detail about the incident but wanted to.

        “This was accidental,” Dillon said early Tuesday afternoon before practice. “In due time, I hope people will see what really happened. It may have to go to court, and the truth will come out.”

        Late Monday night, though, he talked about the incident and his arrest to Sportsline.com.

        Dillon said he went home to the Seattle area unannounced after the Bengals' preseason game Friday night in Cincinnati.

        He said he and his mother had gone to his home and wanted to see his daughter, Cameron, who is 19 months old.

        Dillon said his wife of eight months, Desiree, met him and his mother outside and was verbally abusive to both of them. Desiree Dillon said their daughter was at her mother's house and later agreed to let Dillon see her.

        She drove and, Dillon said, started getting abusive again, this time hitting him with her fist and a cellular telephone.

        “She was beating on me, and I put my hands up to ward off the blows from her hands and from a phone,” he said. “And in the process of doing that, her lip got split, either from the cell phone bouncing back or whatever.

        “It certainly wasn't me, because I have never struck a woman.”

        Federal Way Police responded to a Federal Way home at 1:28p.m. On the arrest report, Dillon listed a Seattle address. Police said Desiree Dillon's mouth was bleeding.

        “I'm the NFL player,” he told Sportsline.com. “The police arrive and see her split lip, and what are they going to think? My wife was angry and emotional, and so it looked worse than it was.”

        Dillon took an overnight flight from Seattle and met — as he had requested — with Brown, coach Bruce Coslet and Jim Anderson, Dillon's position coach.

        “It's a tragedy that this happened,” Dillon said Tuesday just outside the team's locker room. “I never intended to be in this kind of situation and bring this kind of cloud over the team, and hopefully in due time it will be cleared up.”

        Before leaving the Seattle area Monday, Dillon was served a restraining order in Federal Way Municipal Court ordering him not to have contact of any kind with his wife. He also was ordered to stay away from his wife's home and place of business. The exception was visitation with his daughter, which is under the jurisdiction of King County court officials.

        Dillon has a court appearance scheduled for Sept.27 but is not required to be present.

        The Bengals, Brown said, won't act in any way until the judicial system finishes its work.

        “After what I've heard, there isn't much to make it a court matter,” Brown said. “But today, this week, he has a cross to bear. It might be unfair, but there is going to be criticism. We have to bear up under the criticism.”

        Dillon could face sanctions under the NFL's Personal Conduct Policy. Tennessee cornerback Denard Walker and former Arizona running back Mario Bates were both handed one-game suspensions because of domestic violence incidents. Last week, NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue fined Denver receiver Rod Smith for domestic violence.

        Under the policy, the league requires immediate clinical evaluation for a domestic violence arrest and, if warranted, can make the player undergo counseling. Failure to undergo league-ordered counseling is punishable by fine or suspension.

        On Tuesday morning, Bengals players attended a mandatory two-hour NFL Life Skills seminar at the stadium. Actors performed skits that stopped at crucial deci sion-making points for players in everyday life — one of which is a potential altercation with a wife or girlfriend.

        “What we've told the players to do, if you're having problems with your wife, there are resources within the league which I can help you with,” said Eric Ball, the Bengals' director of player relations. “My point is prevention.”

        It's Ball's job to help players with off-field life issues. Ball had yet to talk with Dillon, who missed 20 days of training camp before agreeing to a one-year, $3 million contract.

        “He's worked hard,” Ball said of Dillon. “For this to happen, it's going to be a setback. Corey's the type of person who can bounce back from it.”

        Dillon, 24, said as much earlier Tuesday afternoon.

        “Hey, I got a job to do,” he said. “I got to play. There are going to be situations in your life that occur, but you have to separate that and go to work.”

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