Clay Matthews is done talking about Green Bay's loss to the San Francisco 49ers and the controversial hit he placed on quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Much has been made over the out-of-bounds tackle Matthews put on the young quarterback. Head coach Jim Harbaugh ripped the defensive star over the way he attempted to tackle Kaepernick, leaving Matthews to defend himself.
After Sunday's game, Harbaugh tore into Matthews for placing the late-hit on Kaepernick causing a fight on the field where the linebacker threw a punch at the 49ers' center Joe Staley. The head coach said Matthews would have some repairing to do on his image.
"I think that young man works very hard on being a tough guy," Harbaugh said, via ESPN. "He'll have some repairing to do to his image after the slap. If you're going to go to the face, come with some knuckles, not an open slap."
This of course led to the media questioning whether or not Matthews was a dirty player. In a press conference regarding Green Bay's upcoming game against the Washington Redskins, a reporter asked Matthews about the comments made by Harbaugh, to which he responded, "Next Game!. I'm an awesome player, not a dirty player."
So, that settles it, right? Matthews admitted that the clothesline tackle was not a smart play, but said that his resume speaks for itself and he is doing all of the right things. Mathews has only been fined by the NFL once for a questionable play after receiving a face penalty against Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler. Packers coach Mike McCarthy defended Matthews by saying that he has never been a dirty player, but is always committed to hitting the quarterback.
The NFL has been addressing the issue of placing hits on a mobile quarterback. Once the player leaves the pocket, they are allowed to be tackled like a running back. Matthews said prior to the game that linebackers will keep that in mind but the main goal is to simply get the player to the ground.
"It looks as if as long as that quarterback is carrying out that fake, he loses his right as a pocket passer and rules that govern that," Matthews said, via CSNBayArea.com. "We'll see the hits that are legal and what's not legal, but we think our game plan fits within the scheme of the officials and what we want to do."
Matthews will have a chance to once again chase after a mobile quarterback when he faces Robert Griffin III in Week 2. It is almost a guarantee that the tackling issue will follow defensive players all season.
