I'm not very big on paying much attention to talking heads, but one commentator said it very well this morning (I think it was on ESPN). He said Jay Cutler has "leadership issues" and claims that's a serious flaw in a QB. He said that last night's demeanor on the sidelines is a perfect example. I totally agree. Take the "injury" out of the equation for a moment. Watch the film of him on the sidelines... really study it. And tell me you'd want that kind of leadership on the Jets. No thank you. He looks like he's bored out of his mind, or brooding/pissed about something else (like lack of O-line protection, for example, or playcalling). Whatever it was, if I'm a coach, I don't want that behavior (or lack of leadership) on the sidelines from my QB, period. You're injured and you really know it? So much so that you can't get out there in a game as important as this one, where you and you alone are realistically our best chance to make it to the SB? Okay, fine, but chip in and be there for the backup. For the rest of the offense. LEAD, God Damn it. He did neither. In fact, he looked like he'd rather be somewhere else. People can make excuses all day long about injuries and "you don't know what it's like" or "we don't know yet," etc. And this is true, but you CANNOT dispute that his behavior afterward on the sidleines was about the poorest example of leadership that you've seen in major sports in a very long time. I am thrilled he's not a Jet.
Imagine the mind of Chad Pennington in the body of Jay Cutler. Say what you want about Chad but the guy knew how to be injured with class.
All one needs to do there is look at the contrast with Sanchez. Sanchez almost got his arm ripped off on the fumble, he was clearly in serious pain, but was right back out there on the next drive. That's the type of leadership you look for in a QB.
True, the difference in those two is amazing. One is a ball of energy, who's tough, a personality, a leader and shows up in the post season. The other, has a stick up his ass 24/7 and seems like he could careless to even be an NFL QB. A mentally handicapped individual can figure out which one is which.
My perception of Cutler, and I think much of the media perception, is based on the fact that he looks like a cross between a Giant Douche and a Turd Sandwich...and Harlan Williams of "Half Baked" fame. Anyway, I hate when people bitch other people out about injuries. Often the biggest, toughest "swinging d--k" type players are the ones that have the most terrible physical ailments at career's end. Earl Campbell comes to mind. An MCL injury really limits mobility. I don't know the grade of the tear, but I know that friends who have had it report a "trick knee" and have fallen under hilarious circumstances that coincided with a lot of drinking and made their claims seem dubious. Anyway, if Cutler played, and ended up dropping back and falling over a few times, it wouldn't have helped the Bears win much. Part of his game is his great pocket awareness and ability to throw on the run, which would have been compromised. -X-
I switched over to Chicago sportstalk this afternoon. A misery-loves-company sort of thing. Jerry Angelo tore into all the players sniping at Jay Cutler. This, as opposed to Lovie Smith, who gave Cutler a half-assed defense. Right now, there seems to be a backlash against the Cutler bashers, and he seems to have more supporters calling in now.
I do think Cutler gets a lot more heat because he comes off as uninterested in the locker room and press conferences; to me, a fan questioning his "toughness" really doesn't make a lot of sense, since these guys are all a hell of a lot tougher than anyone here, I would reckon. On the other hand, I absolutely agree that him sitting on the nice heated bench while the game first got close and then fell apart for the Bears is outrageous. He absolutely should have been in the two QBs' ears, should have been trying to pump up the defense, etc. These are men playing a boys' game, and that kind of "nonsense" actually does make a difference. It's also the least he could do considering how much the team is paying him for his services.
This makes perfect sense. I think it's easier to rip on Cutler for being a bitch, but in reality you have to assume that if he could play he'd want to play. I mean, it was the biggest game of his life thus far.
I thought Mark was done on that play. It looked like a Pennington type injury was looming, and he came right back in.
first of all, anyone criticizing his toughness is an asshole and clueless. i'm not a jay cutler fan, but i hate when people get ripped into unfairly. The guy took how many sacks this year and only missed that 1 game with a concussion? He's also not one of those QB's who looks for a flag every play or anytime he gets touched. call him an asshole or a jerk, but he's not soft. 2nd, lovie pulled him. 3rd, you can't plant or cut with a partially torn/severe sprain grade MCL or ACL injury. which means you can't protect yourself or step up in the pocket effectively. i heard some idiot on another message i belong to (non sports) mention the fact he was standing on the sidelines. i said hey fucktard, you can walk around even with a full blown torn MCL or ACL. you just can't do anything athletically. perfect example of being having no clue waht they're talking about and judging someone
I'm actually a fan of his & always felt like he get's a bad wrap. Though I was hard on him when watching the game, because I saw him standing on the sideline & just looking disinterested. For that I apologize. When you stop to think about it everyone who criticized him was so out of bounds. The criticism and allegation is actually kind of outrages when you think about it. It would be for any player, but especially Cutler who over the course of his football career has never shown anything to suggest that he wasn't a tough S.O.B.
Interesting how this story has morphed. Now, the criticism seems to have shifted onto the Bears, who let this spin wildly out of control, to the point where idiot Bears fans were burning Cutler jerseys. Until the Smith and Angelo press conferences yesterday, the only Bear who spoke in strong defense of Cutler was Brian Urlacher. A pretty stand-up teammate.
The biggest problem for Cutler was the fact every time a FOX camera cut in on him on the sideline, he was either pacing around on the sidelines or sitting down with no medical personnel around him. Of course, nobody except those on the Chicago sidelines are really gonna know how hurt he was, but the perception people are going to get, and I did myself, is: how hurt is this guy really? He could have had shrapnel in his knee for all anyone knew, but my general perception was that he could walk on it, it wasn't iced (it was freezing out) and he was still on the sidelines as opposed to being in the trainers room. Whether or not he's a bitch, the only ones who really knows the answer to that are the Bears. A buddy of mine txted me during the game laughing about Cutler, and my only response was that Philip Rivers must be laughing right now. 1) for the simple fact these two hate each other, and 2) because Rivers played in New England with the same injury in the AFCCG, with no Tomlinson, and played pretty valiantly. I would imagine NFL players remember shit like that.
