After Cutler left Sunday's game with a knee injury, players from across the league thought differently. Hatred was spewed towards Cutler in 140 characters or less. Current and former players took to Twitter to question the Quarterback's toughness and passion for the game. Derrick Brooks, former Tampa Bay Buccaneer tweeted, "there is no medicine for a guy with no guts and no heart." For all he knew, Cutler's leg could have been broken. Why they made these comments is left up for debate. A lot of people made up their minds about Jay Cutler long ago. Jay is not a well liked guy around the league and while he brings some of that on himself with behaviors like his arrogant smirks and sometimes questionable body language, it is not right to question his heart or toughness based on his not returning to a game after an injury, especially without full knowledge of the injury.
The injury turned out to be a Grade II MCL sprain that usually takes 3-4 weeks to fully heal.
ESPN writer and medical expert Stephania Bell wrote:
Perhaps the moral to the story here is that it remains difficult, if not impossible, to judge the severity of an injury from a distance. Not only are all injuries unique, each athlete's response to injury is very different. Decisions regarding return to play are some of the most difficult to make for medical personnel who must balance a player's desire to return with the interest of protecting him.Bell's point is that everyone has a different pain tolerance and while some players can perform at the highest level with injuries, others can't. Jay Cutler could not compete with that injury and could not have helped the Bears win that game. That does not make him heartless, or a sissy, it makes him human.
I've watched every minute of every Bears game this season and seen every one of those 57 sacks. Something I never saw or even heard? A complaint. Cutler wouldn't blame the game plans for the reasons he was getting pummeled. You know, the ones that Mike Martz created early in the year; the ones that had Cutler dropping back 5-7 steps and being forced to wait 5-6 seconds for his receivers to come open while a horrendous offensive line tried, and usually failed, to keep defenders from getting to him. He never complained that those same game plans involved the running game very little and allowed defenders to "pin their ears back" in pursuit of the sack. He never complained that the Bears didn't have any legitimate offensive threats, and aside from a great return man (Devin Hester) who was converted to a decent wide receiver, had no explosiveness on offense. He didn't complain that he was being protected by one of the worst offensive lines in history and still leading the Bears to a division title. Jay Cutler didn't complain about anything and at least in his style of play, took on the personality of the city he plays for, a hard nosed, blue collar, tough town that has some flaws.He throws a lot of interceptions, we elect scumbag politicians.You never see Jay Cutler run away from contact, like most quarterbacks. You never see Jay Cutler slide. You almost always see Jay Cutler go head-on into a tackler as if he is a running back diving for the goal line.
Those plays are why we put up with the interceptions. Why we put up with the smug post game remarks and the Richy Rich prep school personality. Why we still cheer for this guy even though off the field he gives us every reason not to. Because, this year at least, he did get the job done on the field.
After forcing his way out of Denver, Cutler came to a city who thought their long and painful search for a quarterback was over. To their dismay he threw a league leading 26 interceptions for a Bears team that finished 7-9, two wins worse than the previous season and fans went back to wondering whether he was the guy or not. This season, however, Cutler was good. While his numbers wouldn't astound anyone, 23 touchdowns and 16 interceptions with a 60% completion rate and a passer rating of 86.3, he led the Bears to their first division title in 3 years and a first round bye in the playoffs. All that being said about a guy who was playing in a third new offensive scheme and for a third new offensive coordinator in as many years. Not bad, at least most would think. And while he didn't get the Bears to the Super Bowl and had a horrible NFC Championship game, a game in which HE TORE HIS FREAKING MCL, he did lead the Bears to a season that any educated Chicago Bears fan would have gladly taken before this year. (Especially me who either had them going 3-13 or 7-9, worst case scenario and best case scenario respectively.)
Let's trust Cutler's teammates, who have almost all come out in support of Jay's heart and cojones, and support him too, because like it or not Bears fans........Jay is our quarterback.
Written By: Matt Coan
Written By: Matt Coan
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