We’re not going to go over it again. You know how we felt about Clay Matthews standing around on the sideline at the end of the NFC Championship game against Seattle.
And if you don’t, feel free to read this.
After the game, information was vague, but we soon found out Matthews pulled himself. He said he was hurt. Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy didn’t seem to have a good answer for what happened or what the injury was.
And then he was well enough to play in the Pro Bowl the next week, which surely indicates he wasn’t hurt that bad.
Well, Rob Demovsky brought this up to Matthews this week and here’s what he had to say.
“It wasn’t one play. It was a while ago, but it was a bunch of things catching up to me. That’s what I’ve said since the game. It was a bunch of little things. It was knee. It was hip. I took that hit on the sack in which I had. I had a big hit on the tight end coming across the middle. It was a bunch of little stuff and that point, I didn’t feel confident putting myself out there. I had to do what’s in the best interests of not only the team, but I’ve got to take care of No. 1.”
Now, let’s break that down.
“It wasn’t one play. It was a while ago, but it was a bunch of things catching up to me.”
That statement seems like it was made by someone who’s fumbling around with his words because he either doesn’t know what to say or is looking for an excuse and doesn’t have one.
“That’s what I’ve said since the game.”
Right. You actually offered that excuse once, while making the media rounds at the Super Bowl. A game you should have been playing in.
“It was a bunch of little things. It was knee. It was hip. I took that hit on the sack in which I had. I had a big hit on the tight end coming across the middle. It was a bunch of little stuff and that point, I didn’t feel confident putting myself out there.”
Little stuff? In the biggest game of the year? When your team needs you the most?
“I had to do what’s in the best interests of not only the team, but I’ve got to take care of No. 1.”
Yup. Got to take care of No. 1 because No. 1 is a paper tiger.
Look, we’re not here to tell a guy how he feels or what to do with his body or when to play and when not to play.
We certainly have every right to be disappointed in this particular situation, though.
This is indicative of why guys on the team don’t see Matthews as a leader. Why they voted Morgan Burnett and Julius Peppers, in his first season with the team, as defensive captains last year.
It also makes you question the guy’s toughness, deserved or not. And it certainly feels deserved.