Bears quarterback Jay Cutler was knocked out of Sunday night’s game after he took a helmet-to-jaw hit from Texans linebacker Tim Dobbins after throwing a pass. At least, that’s how the officials on the field saw it. But that’s not how Dobbins saw it.
In Dobbins’ view, he was just running forward when Cutler ran into him.
“I did not hit him in his head, and actually he ran into me,” Dobbins said, via CSNChicago.com. “I just felt like he was going to take off and run with the ball and I thought he was past the line.”
Cutler was called for an illegal forward pass because he was beyond the line of scrimmage when he passed, so Dobbins might try to argue that Cutler was a runner, not a passer, at the time. But Dobbins acknowledged that he’s worried the NFL will see it differently and fine him.
“I’m definitely worried about it, but I felt like it was clean though,” Dobbins said. “I did not hit him in his head and I felt like I didn’t lead with my helmet.”
Whatever Dobbins thinks he did, the reality is he hit Cutler in the jaw with the crown of his helmet. It’s hard to imagine that the NFL will agree with Dobbins’ assessment that it was Cutler who ran into him.