Injured Chicago linebacker Brian Urlacher, long considered the leader of this Bears team, watched Sunday’s embarrassing loss to the Minnesota Vikings with Yahoo! Sports reporter Michael Silver. Of struggling quarterback Jay Cutler, Urlacher said:
“Look, I love Jay, and I
understand he’s a great player who can take us a long way, and I still
have faith in him. But I hate the way our identity has changed. We used
to establish the run and wear teams down and try not to make mistakes,
and we’d rely on our defense to keep us in the game and make big plays
to put us in position to win. Kyle Orton might not be the flashiest
quarterback, but the guy is a winner, and that formula worked for us. I
hate to say it, but that’s the truth.”
Today, Urlacher was quick to clarify his controversial comments. From the Chicago Tribune:
“I’m
not taking a shot at Jay. I’m not one bit taking a shot at Jay. He throws it better, right? And we haven’t tried to run
the ball as much. That’s true. But Kyle has won games. His formula works. So I’m not taking a shot at Jay or Kyle.”
He may not want to admit it, but no matter how you look at it, Urlacher is labeling Orton a winner and Cutler as a talented player who just can’t win. And, truth be told, this Bears team (one that allowed the Vikings
to amass 537 total yards Sunday) isn’t strong enough defensively to
fall back on their old formula of good defense, conservative offense. By making those comments, all Urlacher does is stir up controversy and kick his teammates while they’re down.
No Spain, No Gain 