During Getafe's stunning win at the Bernabeu, Rudiger was accused of deliberately trying to hurt Rico with a challenge which saw the German's knee strike his grounded opponent's face.
Such were the images that calls in Germany were made for Rudiger to be banned from this summer's World Cup squad.
But Rudiger said on Tuesday: "You see the slow-motion footage and it looks terrible, of course, I'm not going to argue, but I didn't kill him, he doesn't have to exaggerate.
"If I had gone there with that intention, he wouldn't have gotten up from the ground. I'm not justifying it, but he was running afterward, wasn't he? If you freeze a frame, it looks awful. Why wasn't I sent off? It was never my intention.
"I like to be tough, but I have my limits that I don't cross. I think the guy exaggerated; he needed some focus. We shouldn't dwell on this or say that someone wanted to kill you. We have to keep things under control."
Meanwhile, with his contract running down this season, Rudiger added: "For me, the most important thing is that I feel healthy and right now I feel good. Yes, I'm sure everything else will sort itself out; it's not the time to talk about it."