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Chicago Bears starting quarterback Jay Cutler said that he made a mistake on Sunday when he flipped the football to a Minnesota Vikings defender after a scramble out of bounds. The gesture led to a taunting penalty, and it set the Bears back 15 yards and likely cost them a touchdown.
Cutler scrambled 5 yards and stiff-armed A.J. Jefferson of the Vikings on his way out of bounds at the Minnesota 18-yard line. While returning to the huddle, Cutler flipped the ball to Jefferson and drew the penalty.
Cutler said, via ESPN, that the move took points off the board, and that if anyone else on offense had done it, he would have yelled at them. He said that he can't do something like that again, obviously.
The penalty ultimately didn't prove very costly, though the Bears were driving well and the drive ended in a 47-yard Robbie Gould field goal as opposed to a touchdown that would have given the Bears a 14-3 lead early in the game. Had it been later in the game or closer overall, it might have been a much bigger deal.