Say what you want about Jay Cutler, but the man knows how to handle media noise.
Cutler finally addressed comments by Brandon Marshall and Martellus Bennett. One of them directed to Bennett was just pure gold:
“Hopefully, Tom, I guess, can do a better job of finding him than I did.”
He didn’t take the bait and his responses were high road mixed with some subtle trolling.
After years of being run through the media gauntlet for not realizing his immense potential, displaying “poor body language,” and being labeled a bad leader and coach killer, the 11th-year veteran has had to endure many a media storm, especially during his time in Chicago.
Lost in all of the negativity and hot takes regarding Cutler, as well as the controversy surrounding his sometimes bad decision-making and misguided questions about his toughness following his exit from the 2010 NFC Championship, is the fact that the guy has been taking the high road and responding things like this the right way for years.
While he undoubtedly displays his share of histrionics during games, like this,
and this
Cutler is not a fool. He knows that opinions of him cover both ends of the spectrum, as he jokingly acknowledged when addressing Marshall’s endorsement of him for MVP. And he knows the microscope that he’s under on and off the field and how to not add to the firestorm.
That said, he also knows how to get a little dig in. After initially saying he wasn’t going to get too in depth with Bennett’s comments, Cutler mentioned that “most receivers and tight ends are always open, so you know, hopefully Tom can do a better job finding him than I did.”
Now, if that’s not a great troll, I don’t know what is. Bennett complained that Cutler would throw into double-coverage when the tight end was wide open, but the truth is that Bennett never received few than 80 targets a year in the three seasons he spent with Chicago, including 129 in a year where he had 90 catches, 916 yards, and six touchdowns. But when you want the ball, you want the ball, I guess.
Jay’s been around and seen his fair share of diva personalities, including the two men currently talking about him in the press. But despite everyone trying to paint him as being one himself, he just continues to rise above the noise and try to get his team ready for this upcoming season.
He might not be as charismatic as Russell Wilson or even the man that Bennett’s currently playing for, but you can’t deny that Cutler can handle the pressure and the nonsense that comes with being an NFL quarterback. Now, let’s see a productive year from him on the field so that he can further quiet some of the critics.
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