I'm satisfied with how today went. Crybaby Jay turned out to be a bigger wuss than I initially gave him credit for
Man, it really amazes me sometimes, just how far people will go to criticize a guy.
Olin Kreutz (who is the first Bear to throw anyone under the bus when it's warranted) said that in the huddles leading up to the end of the second quarter, Cutler's leg was shaking almost uncontrollably and that he didn't think Cutler would finish the half (adding that he was "amazed" that Cutler started the second half). When asked if he felt that Cutler let the team down, Brian Urlacher (who is the second Bear to throw anyone under the bus when it's warranted) ended a postgame interview because he thought the idea was so ridiculous. In fact, the trainers
took Cutler's helmet away from him when the team came out to start the second half, and he actually grabbed his helmet back to go out and play before the trainers got to Lovie and said "bench him." One of the Chicago Tribune beat writers is saying that the team believes he tore at least one and possibly two ligaments in his knee, and he's undergoing an MRI first thing in the morning tomorrow to confirm the extent of the damage.
It's not like the guy got sacked more than any other quarterback in the NFL thanks to his shittastic offensive line but kept on playing the entire season or anything. And it's not like you need your knees to play quarterback -- nope, just stand back there and throw. Jay Cutler's just a pussy, right?
I mean, I get that he's not the most likable player in the NFL. But to question his toughness is madness -- he was tough at Vanderbilt, he was tough in Denver, and he's been tough in Chicago, even though he's spent almost every snap for the last two seasons running for his life because the line is filled with a bunch of sad-sack, gutless assholes who wouldn't know the meaning of the term "pass protection" if it was tattooed on the tips of their pricks. I don't think people really grasp just how
awful the Bears' line is. The team has utterly ignored the holes for the last several years, and every quarterback who has played for the team has had to worry about getting buried in turf every time they drop back to pass. Christ, though, some of the criticism of him (fans burning their Cutler jerseys? What the
hell?) is insane. "How'd he hurt his knee? What a pussy." Oh, gee, I don't know. Getting tackled and hit a lot tends to increase one's risk of injury.
I'd listen to 670 The Score tomorrow at work, but I don't want to be liable for replacing my monitor after I punch a hole through it.