Carolina Panthers free safety Mike Mitchell blasted New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees for being "soft" after a Week 11 game that saw the Saints benefit from a 15-yard personal foul call against the San Francisco 49ers, but Wednesday the safety backed off his comments ahead of the Panthers meeting with the Saints this Sunday night.
"I don't really think he's a soft player," Mitchell said Wednesday, per the Charlotte Observer. "Obviously he's a very, very, very good quarterback, and I have a lot of respect for what he's done as a player and what he's done in this league. It was really just more of a comment on the rule changes. It was really a 15-minute interview where someone took 45 seconds and made an article out of it."
Mitchell's take on Brees happened back in that Week 11 game when 49ers linebacker Ahmad Brooks laid a hard hit up high on Brees that caused a fumble that was recovered by San Francisco until a flag was thrown on the play to extend New Orleans' drive. The flag was for a personal foul on the 49ers and the drive eventually culminated in a game-winning field goal for the Saints.
"Stop being soft, get up off the ground," Mitchell told a Los Angeles radio station after the game according to NFL.com. "You saw the play with Drew Brees. He did not get hit in the chin. He got hit hard, which he should have got hit hard because we are playing full-speed tackle football. And he fumbled the football. And I think that really was the reason he was down so long. He was really trying to sell that and trying to get a flag and obviously it worked, and their team was able to steal a win because of that play."
Mitchell has recorded 2.5 sacks this season along with four interceptions and 35 tackles.
He'll have the task of trying to stop a Brees-led offense in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
Brees is 323-for-477 (67.7%) this season for 3,794 yards with 29 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
When the two teams take the field on Sunday, the time for talking will be over.
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