People who expect Maurice Jones-Drew to apologize for his tweet criticizing Jay Cutler's toughness will be disappointed.
Jones-Drew told NFL Network's Kara Henderson in an interview that aired Tuesday he doesn't regret his January post, which caused a backlash and even incited death threats from Chicago Bears fans who backed the team's quarterback.
"I haven't gotten a chance to, but I wouldn't apologize because I didn't do anything wrong, I don't think," said Jones-Drew, the Jacksonville Jaguars' two-time Pro Bowl running back. "I didn't commit a crime. I didn't kill anyone or rape anyone or anything like that. I mean, I stated my opinion, and it seems like you get more backlash for that than committing a real crime in some sense.
"I don't know, I don't feel I did anything wrong. I just said what everybody else was thinking at the time."
What Jones-Drew tweeted during the Jan. 23 NFC Championship Game was a direct shot at Cutler, who left with a knee injury in the third quarter against the Green Bay Packers with a Super Bowl berth on the line.
"Hey I think the urban meyer rule is effect right now... When the going gets tough........QUIT," Jones-Drew posted on his Twitter page.
The nature of Cutler's injury was unknown during the game, but it later was revealed as a sprained medial collateral ligament. Even with that knowledge, Jones-Drew insists that he doesn't have any regrets.
"I don't regret anything I do," said Jones-Drew, who played through a knee injury of his own last season before missing the final two games. "I mean, you think about everything you put out there anyway. I'm not one of these guys who's going to say, 'Well, I shouldn't have done it,' because I did it. I mean, I knew what I was doing when I tweeted it. I just didn't know that many people were following me (on Twitter) at the time."
Jones-Drew might have led the way, but he wasn't the only player to criticize Cutler. Darnell Dockett of the Arizona Cardinals and Bruce Gradkowski, then of the Oakland Raiders, were some of the current and former NFL players who took shots at Cutler via Twitter.
Cutler has said he isn't bothered by what happened and appreciates how his teammates, most notably linebacker Brian Urlacher, came to his defense in the immediate aftermath of the Bears' 21-14 loss.
"That's all new," Cutler said last month when he reported to training camp. "That's never been an issue for me. I've never been questioned about it. I didn't really know how to react to it. I know that anyone who has played with knee (injuries) should never question that. I know the guys in the locker room aren't going to. You can't get caught up in that stuff. ... You're going to have to take it as it is and move on."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
