It has been several months since the Bears traded wide receiver Brandon Marshall to the Jets, but Marshall hasn’t stopped talking about his former team yet.
In particular, he hasn’t stopped talking about quarterback Jay Cutler. Cutler recently said that “no one really likes their ex-girlfriend after a breakup” and Marshall gave support to that notion during an appearance on ESPN Thursday. Marshall said that he was the only person in the Bears organization that was willing to hold Cutler accountable.
“I feel like I was the only one in the organization that had the huevos to hold him accountable,” Marshall said, via Kimberley Martin of Newsday. “And it didn’t go the way I wanted it to go, and there’s some things I’d probably take back. But I didn’t want to waste any time. You’ve got to think about this: I’m displacing my family, and there’s coaches too. That’s why I’m so passionate about this game, that’s why I give everything when I hit this field. It’s because you don’t just play for yourself, you’re playing for hundreds of people in the organization. Right now, my [former] wide receivers coach is still looking for a job and I don’t think that’s fair. I think when you strap it on and you say I’m going to play for the Chicago Bears, I’m playing for the New York Jets, you give it your all. You’ve got to play for more than the money, you’ve got to play for more than yourself. That’s the only way this thing works. Some of us get it and some of us don’t. And last year, I just felt like we had all the pieces and I just felt like there were a few things that were missing.”
Cutler was benched in favor of Jimmy Clausen last season, so former Bears coach Marc Trestman did find some huevos at some point, but it’s clear that Marshall still harbors some ill feelings for the team and players he left behind in Chicago.
It’s up to offensive coordinator Adam Gase and coach John Fox to deal with Cutler this season while Marshall goes to work with Geno Smith with the Jets. Accountability wasn’t a particular strong suit for the cinephile last season so Marshall may get a chance to break out his tools again this year.
