Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews has come under scrutiny after his dirty hit on San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick in Sunday’s 34-28 loss to the 49ers.
Matthews leaped into the air and basically delivered a clothesline to Kaepernick as he was running out of bounds.
The hit obviously upset 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh.
“If you’re going to go to the face, come with some knuckles, not an open slap,” Harbaugh told Mike Vandermaus of the USA Today. “That young man works very hard on being a tough guy. He’ll have some repairing to do to his image after the slap.”
Packers head coach Mike McCarthy has defended Matthews, but Matthews has stayed silent.
On Thursday, Matthews again did not want to answer any questions about his hit, potential fine or anything but the Packers upcoming matchup with the Washington Redskins. Finally, according to Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com, the last question got an answer.
“Next game!” Matthews yelled and then smiled. “I’m an awesome player, not a dirty player.”
Matthews and the Packers will host the Redskins Sunday at 1:00 pm EST. Both teams are 0-1.