San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh warned the NFL to watch out for dirty tactics by the Green Bay Packers defense designed to throw quarterback Colin Kaepernick off his game, and sure enough, linebacker Clay Matthews nearly incited a brawl with a late hit.
As Kaepernick ran out of bounds Matthews launched himself and tackled him around the shoulders. 49ers tackle Joe Staley took exception to the rough hit and engaged Matthews even though officials had already flagged him for the hit. He grabbed Matthews by the shoulder pads, and Matthews responded with a slap to Staley's helmet.
The 49ers eventually won the game, which may explain why Harbaugh's most recent comments regarding Matthews were laced with a little humor. "I think that young man works very hard on being a tough guy," Harbaugh said of Matthews. "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."
Staley was on ESPN Radio Monday and was asked about his coach's comments about Matthews. Those are his words. Coach Harbaugh is being Coach Harbaugh," Staley said. "I think myself in that situation, I saw my quarterback being hit late out of bounds and instinctually it kind of took over that I felt I saw something that shouldn't happen on the football field and I tried to defuse the situation."
"I didn't go over with any malice or bad intent. I kind of just wanted to go over and let him know that that's not going to happen, especially on our home field."
Packers head coach Mike McCarthy is now on the defensive, as Matthews is being talked about in the media as a dirty player. Matthews himself admitted the late hit "wasn't very smart."
"Clay Matthews is not a dirty player, by no means," McCarthy said. "I addressed Harbaugh's comments in the team meeting and as always we'll stay above it."
Through all the zings, accusations and denials, the best quote to come of this affair was from Kaepernick himself. "If intimidation is your game plan, I hope you have a better one."
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