CHICAGO — Perhaps it was because not even Jay Cutler himself remembered exactly on what play in the second quarter he injured his knee, that some didn’t want to believe he was that hurt at all.
Or maybe it was because Cutler a few years back threw a snit to get out of Denver and has all the personality of a pylon that suspicions were aroused even after the Bears quarterback tried to give it a shot for the first series of the second half.
Or probably because it was the NFC title game, that Cutler’s disappearance after one series in the third quarter turned into a barrage of tweeted criticism from NFL players.
“If I was a teammate I would look at him sideways,” said Eagles corner Asante Samuel on Twitter. “All he has to do is throw the ball.”
Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew and Oakland quarterback Bruce Gradkowski joined in with similar thoughts, and while Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher was not aware of the identity of his critics, he was informed by media persons of it and reacted bitterly.
“Nothing like jealous people at home watching,” Urlacher fumed. “Players around the league you said, right? Yeah, I love jealous people when they are watching our game on TV while their season is over.”
Cutler’s was completed after a three-and-out following the second-half kickoff.
“We taped it up to warm it up a little bit and give it a shot,” he said. “I didn’t know how it’d hold up.
“It was disappointing. I was going to keep playing, but they made the decision that giving Todd [Collins] a shot would be better.
“I knew it was probably better that I didn’t. I know my knee. I know my body.”
Bears coach Lovie Smith didn’t know why the Cutler questions wouldn’t stop in the post-game.
“He took a shot to the knee, just couldn’t go, team doctors and all, there was no decision, really,” said Smith. “Hey guys, he hurt his knee and he was out, alright?
“I would have liked to see Jay have the opportunity to play that second half, but it just wasn’t meant to be.
“Todd [Collins] has been our backup quarterback for a while. It’s not like there is a big difference, that’s why we went to Caleb [Hanie] fairly quick.”
Hanie engineered two fourth-quarter drives. He also threw two interceptions, one of which turn into a touchdown by B.J. Raji, the other by Sam Shields that ended the last hope.
Last night, some fans reportedly were burning Cutler jerseys in the parking lot. He will need some serious damage to show on the MRI today for Bears fans to forgive him.
wasn’t meant to be.”
