Kevin Kolb Not Backing Down To His Opponents, Refuses To Be Called 'Scared'

Throughout his rather young NFL career, Kevin Kolb has had issues with injuries. Since coming to the Arizona Cardinals, his troubles with injuries have been magnified with a less than stellar offensive line. Opposing defenses are constantly breaking through his pass protection, causing Kolb to scramble around like a chicken with it's head cut off.

Still, Kolb has taken the hits, and if bearable, he has remained in the game. So when a player calls him 'scared' and 'skittish', he tends to take exception to it.

After Friday night's game against the Raiders, Oakland defensive lineman Tommy Kelly had some harsh comments about Kolb. Conveniently, they were made after Kolb had already left the stadium, according to Darren Urban. Kelly noted that Kolb looked scared and skittish. Basically, he didn't have many flattering things to say about the Cardinals quarterback.

But today, Kolb got wind of the comments and spoke to Cardinals team writer Darren Urban about them. Here is what he had to say:

"Scared? Scared of what?" Kolb said. "Taking a hit? I have never been afraid of anyone on the field and that will never change. That includes Number 93 (Kelly). There's a fine line between holding in the pocket and trying to escape to make a play. Tommy Kelly is too clueless to know the difference. I don't mind people criticizing my play. Don't ever question my toughness."

Although not many of us have liked what we have seen from Kolb so far, hearing this out of him is great. It's good to hear him sticking up for himself and even firing back at Kelly. I personally think Kolb is a pretty tough guy, despite the injuries he has sustained throughout his career. If his injury against the Saints would have happened in a regular season game, I guarantee he would have stayed in.

As the week goes on, I am sure the local media will be hounding the other Cardinals players for their take on this. Hopefully, they stand up for their QB. Even if he doesn't end up being the starter, he is still a Cardinal and deserves to be treated as such.

Besides, the only quarterback that should be scared is Matt Leinart. After taking a hit like that from Ricky Lumpkin, I would probably be scared, too.

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