Brandon Marshall did not mince words.
“That was dirty,” the Chicago Bears’ receiver said about Detroit’s Ndamukong Suh’s vicious tackle of Bears quarterback Jay Cutler in Chicago’s 13-7 Monday night victory over the Lions.
Marshall had Tweeted his problem with the play, during with Suh grabbed Cutler in the backfield and power drove him into the turf, compounding the hit by forcing his 265-pound body onto Culter as he careened to the ground.
“A Suh. What u did to Jay wasn’t cool,” Marshall wrote on Twitter. “Great players don’t have to do that. A Suh. Something I’ve learned and now passing down to you. Succeed with character.”
Tuesday morning, Marshall called into ESPN’s First Take program and was more adamant.
“Last night the leg whip that Ndamukong Suh placed on our quarterback Jay Cutler, that was dirty. That was dirty,” Marshall said. “He can be one of the best D-tackles that ever done it, but he cannot do that that way. If you look at it, c’mon man, this is not wrestling. You don’t do that. That’s not clean.”
The NFL has determined upon review that Suh’s sack of Cutler was a perfectly legal play, a source told ESPN NFL Insider Ed Werder. The game officials were correct in their decision not to penalize the Lions, and Suh does not face a potential fine.
It was considered a worthwhile review and a close decision because Cutler is afforded the protections against roughing the passer, even outside the pocket, but Suh did not drive him into the ground so the hit was determined to be legal, the source said.
Cutler underwent X-rays on his ribs after the hit in the second quarter and will be evaluated further on Tuesday, but Smith doesn’t think the injury is serious enough to cause Cutler to miss playing time.
Cutler, who said he had the wind knocked out of him, writhed in pain before leaving the game for a play. He returned but went to the locker room for further evaluation before halftime. He returned in the second half and finished the game with a passer rating of 76.
“I feel all right right now,” Cutler said after the game. “I think probably later in the week it’s gonna be a little difficult.
“(The injury) was on the right side. So trying to get my right side through was a little bit tough. I missed some throws, wasn’t exactly feeling 100 percent. But we had to kind of fight through it. The way our defense was playing, we were just trying to kind of drag out the game.”
