Jay Cutler: What Lovie Smith REALLY Wanted to Say About Cutler
Lovie Smith took the podium on Monday and addressed the Jay Cutler situation. To give Smith credit, he didn't talk about something else to start things off, and he didn't try to pretend like nothing had happened.
Smith addressed the issue head-on, but his words all were very measured, almost sounding scripted, and while he gave Cutler the proverbial "vote of confidence" going into the 2011 season, the more you watch what Lovie said, and how he said it, the more it seems like Lovie had a lot more that he wanted to say.
Smith is far too professional to throw one of his players under the bus, but actions speak louder than words, and like Cutler's actions yesterday, what Smith and the Bears organization do during the offseason will tell us what they really think.
Here is a look at what Smith did say, along with a translation of what is REALLY going through the coach's head.
On the Decision to Take Cutler Out
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What He Said:
"As far as Jay, Jay didn’t take himself out of the game. If you’re going to be attacking somebody, attack me, as a head football coach—and our medical staff—we’re the ones. He wanted to go back in. He was injured and went back in in the second half."
That's the kind of statement that should completely exonerate Cutler, but when you look at how Cutler played in the third quarter, and his body language on the sidelines, here's what Smith really said.
What He REALLY Said:
"Listen, Jay was having a bad day. I saw it. You saw it. Everyone saw it. We determined he could go back in and play after halftime because he was our best option. But then he crapped the bed. When he came off the field the last time, I looked in his eyes and saw he'd quit. He had no fight left in him. So I benched him and put Todd Collins in.
"If you want to get mad at anybody, get mad at me for thinking Cutler had the heart of a champion who would play through injuries like 90 percent of the rest of the league. Jay obviously doesn't have that kind of grit in him. But now we know that, and I can move forward in 2011 with that information to make better decisions and bring this city another Super Bowl."
On Cutler's Third Quarter Performance
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What He Said:
"He wanted to go and tried to go the second half as he went back in that first series. You never want a player to be out on the football field if he can’t protect himself and can’t perform his duties. That’s what happened."
Very politically correct, but we played the tape backwards and found out that Smith actually said this:
What He REALLY Said:
"We knew Todd Collins wasn't very good, so we felt we didn't have another choice but to have Jay keep playing. After that first series, it was obvious Jay had already checked out and was ready to blame everything on his knee. Kind of a chicken and egg scenario to give to the media. You ask him why he performed poorly, he blames his knee and everyone will leave him alone.
"At that point, I had to throw Collins out there. I needed to win a game and already knew Collins wanted it more than Jay."
On League Reaction to Cutler's Attitude
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"For guys to take a shot that weren’t there, to try to look at his body language and figure out whether he was hurt because he was on the sideline, or, ‘What I would do in that situation,’ you don’t know what you would do in that situation."
This is the most ridiculous statement Coach Smith uttered, so let's go ahead and translate what he really said:
"You got me on that one. Most of these guys who tweeted have had the same injury or worse and played through it, so they DO know what they would do in that situation. I'm totally making stuff up right now because there is no other proper response to that question other than to be politically correct."
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On Why Other Players Criticized Cutler
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What He Said:
“I have no idea. You’d have to talk to them about that.”
Well, what else is Smith going to say? This is what our microphones picked up between the lines:
What He REALLY Said:
"I'm not going to talk about what other people said. But notice I'm not going to directly address anything they said or refute it other than in general terms because I'm not throwing one of my own players under the bus. I have to preserve his trade value."
On the Future of Jay Cutler
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What He Said:
“He’s our quarterback. He’s done a lot of great things for us. I can’t wait for our future together with him leading our team.”
As soon as the cameras cut, Smith grabbed the nearest reporter by the collar and, with a desperate look in his eye, said the following:
What He REALLY Said:
"Listen, I just gave Jay the 'Vote of Confidence.' If that doesn't tell you I'd name Caleb Hanie the starter today if I thought I could get away with it, I don't know what else would. Cutler sat on that bench and counted sheep while Hanie worked his butt off to try to win that game. Hanie will be my starting quarterback by the end of training camp unless Cutler gets born again during the offseason.
"You can't seriously think this team will ever win a Super Bowl with a quarterback that folds in the playoffs, do you? Didn't watching Donovan McNabb in Philadelphia teach you anything? Skills mean nothing if you have no heart, and Jay is dead inside."
In Conclusion
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Coach Smith was very calm and very composed in the press conference, but it just seems if your quarterback was the target of as much venom as Cutler was since the second half of the game on Sunday, you'd come out with a little more fire to defend your player.
Smith was not passionate about his defense at all. He addressed the injury but basically sidestepped all the legitimate questions about why Cutler just gave up and sat down in the biggest game of his career.
He didn't address why Cutler refused to help Hanie, refused to participate in the game from the sideline or even tried to put on a knee brace and test that out before being removed from the game permanently.
Putting Hanie in before the fourth quarter tells you exactly what Smith thought of Cutler. He knew Cutler had checked out and that by putting Hanie in, there would be no way Cutler could get back in the game. Since Collins was ineffective, the decision was easy.
As it turns out, Smith probably should be grilled for making Hanie the third-string quarterback. Hanie has more heart than Cutler and more skill and poise than Collins.
That doesn't mean anything now, but it gives Smith something to build on for 2011.
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