The battle between Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis and receiver Chad Ochocinco is turning into a tale of two scorned lovers.

Early last week, Ochocinco sent the Boston Herald’s Ian Rapoport a Twitter message suggesting that he’d welcome a trade to the Patriots this offseason. A couple days later, Lewis took a shot at his star receiver by saying: “Nobody was talking about him. He didn’t stand that,” which was in reference to Ocho’s desire for attention. Lewis then went on to say: “You want them to talk about you, win football games.”

At the Senior Bowl on Monday, Lewis again took a swipe at his receiver, this time saying that Bill Belichick is “smarter” than to acquire a player like Ochocinco. So in one week, Lewis basically called his best receiver an attention-starved diva and then suggested that one of the league’s best coaches was smart enough to stay away from him.

For a guy who reportedly wanted out of Cincinnati because of the circus-like atmosphere, Lewis sure is turning up the drama lately. And if Belichick is too smart to take on a headache like Ochocinco, then what does that make Lewis for keeping him on the roster? If he’s that much of a distraction, why doesn’t Lewis convince the higher ups to get rid of the Ocho?

Ochocinco and T.O. both said on their latest episode of “The T.Ocho Show” that they would love to play for the Jets next season. So while Ochocinco continues to lobby to play for other teams, his head coach is taking not-so-subtly jabs at him.

This situation is turning ugly.