Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler is more than a little bit familiar with Washington Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall. You wouldn’t know that based on Cutler’s assessment of his upcoming opponent.
On Thursday, Cutler was asked if he was looking forward to facing Hall again on Sunday. He responded by saying plenty without saying much.
“Another player,” Cutler said, per Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune.
Why is that significant? Hall is “another player” who happened to intercept four of Cutler’s passes when the Bears lost to the Redskins back in 2010. After that game, Hall said that Cutler doesn’t really understand the game of football. In 2008, when Cutler was still with the Denver Broncos, he had success throwing to Eddie Royal when Hall was covering Royal. After hooking up with Royal several times, Cutler was quick to point out that the receiver had his way with Hall.
There’s no debating that Cutler and Hall have a history, even if they choose to downplay it. When asked about Cutler’s most recent comments on Thursday, Hall took the humble approach.
“I don’t know what you want Jay to say,” he told reporters. “‘Oh my God, I’m scared of this guy!’ He’s trying to say I’m another guy. Whether he believes that in his heart or not, that’s what he has to say. He has gone against some great corners in this league. I’m probably not the best guy he ever has gone against.
“I can’t go into it thinking, ‘This is Jay Cutler.’ But for me personally, I feel good about the matchup. I feel good about the things we’re trying to do, defensively, scheme-wise.”
Neither player is going to get on their knees and worship the other guy, that’s for sure. We always say that players should do their talking on the field. That’s essentially what Cutler and Hall are doing heading into this weekend’s matchup.
