Cutler supporters, critics sound off

Here’s a sampling of opinions in the wake of Bears quarterback Jay Cutler for not finishing Sunday’s game, and critics who challenged his toughness:

“He’s the pot calling the kettle black. He’s a guy who didn’t play the last two games because of injury while his team was still fighting in the playoffs. How can you, of all people, say something like that?”

— Bears safety Chris Harris responding to Maurice Jones-Drew’s tweets (“Waddle and Silvy” on WMVP 1000-AM)

“When I see a guy like Deion Sanders apologizing to Bears fans because the medical staff takes (Cutler) out of the game, I have a real problem with that.”

—Boomer Esiason (PFT Live)

“I don’t know if anybody can play the game when they’re not 100 percent or not well. I can’t speak for Jay Cutler. I can’t speak for anybody.

“Myself, I would have had to have been paralyzed to come out of the game. I don’t want to say that word. I would have had to be completely knocked out to come out of that football game.”

— Mike Ditka on “Mike & Mike” (WMVP 1000-AM)

“It’s an extremely violent game and players who played in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s are showing the wear-and-tear of that violence and are asking for (medical and financial) help to keep them afloat. And here we are with a player who has an MCL tear and is told by his own medical staff not to go back out on the field. Ande yet we question that. You can’t have it both ways.

“I agree with Brian Urlacher — there is something to be said about guys who are not playing in that game, tweeting about that game.”

— Boomer Esiason (PFT Live)

“I’m sorry. I don’t need an MRI to confirm King Cutler quit. ... Despite all their strong words defending Cutler, I bet you couldn’t pay Brian Urlacher and Lovie Smith to start Cutler’s car for the next month. Cutler is the new Steve Bartman, the interfering Cubs fan.”

— Jason Whitlock, FoxSports.com

“I think there are a number of different players, if given the exact same situation, that the response this morning would have been far different from what we’re seeing with Jay Cutler.”

— FOX analyst Troy Aikman (on “Mully and Handley” WSCR 670-AM)

“In 30 years of covering professional football I’ve never seen a front-line player crushed by his peers the way Cutler was Sunday in real time.”

— Michael Wilbon, ESPN.com

“For certain people to say certain things about No. 6, that’s insulting. He played his butt off but he just couldn’t help the team in the condition he was in.”

— Former Bears player Dennis McKinnon (on “Boers and Bernstein” WSCR 670-AM)

“They don’t know what they’re talking about. They’re not in this locker room. They don’t know the type of guy Jay is. He’s a competitor. For people to say he quit, that’s definitely unjust to him. He’s a guy who goes out there and plays with diabetes every frickin week. To say he’s not tough … it kind of rubs me the wrong way.”

— Bears safety Chris Harris on league-wide criticism (“Waddle and Silvy” on WMVP 1000-AM)