Bill Polian Thinks He’s Bad At His Job
January 11, 2011 - 2:20 pm by Matthew Glenesk
And you thought Vernon Gholston was the biggest DE/LB hybrid first round flop in Saturday’s Jets-Colts playoff game.
Sure Gholston, the No. 6 pick in 2008, was inactive. But that’s an epic upgrade from the contributions of Colts DE Jerry Hughes.
According to Colts president Bill Polian, Hughes, the 31st pick in last year’s draft, is to blame for Saturday’s disappointment. That’s right. Jerry Hughes. Not Jim Caldwell, who seemingly will survive his second Chris Webber moment.
On his radio show, Polian didn’t vilify Hughes by name rather just eluded to him. Polian blamed kickoff coverage for the loss, saying there wasn’t enough effort and that one player in particular wasn’t in the right lane on Antonio Cromartie’s late kickoff return which setup the Jets game-winning FG.
ESPN.com blogger Paul Kuharsky fingered Hughes as the culprit.
Now this isn’t the first time Polian has taken a dig at Hughes on his radio show. Earlier in the season, he admitted he should have drafted Indiana offensive tackle Rodger Saffold instead of Hughes (Saffold kept Sam Bradford clean all year and was a revelation).
If only we could blame the guy who drafted Hughes. Wait a minute…
2 Responses to “Bill Polian Thinks He’s Bad At His Job”
Hughes’s effort was pathetic on that play, but how many guys who are supposed to be DEs are awesome on kickoff coverage? He shouldn’t have been on the field in such a big situation, but I guess out of sheer desperation due to injuries the Colts had no choice. Still too early to call him a flop… the Colts often bring guys along slowly on defense, e.g. Marlin Jackson, Hayden, Hagler, etc.
By WiseGuyAction on Jan 11, 2011
Caldwell was pretty damn inexcusable during that whole game. Who calls a time out with 36 seconds left when your OPPONENT is trying to score. You could see Peyton Manning give a classic WTF-face on the sidelines because he knew enough to know his coach just cost him that game.
By Justin on Jan 12, 2011