Bears vs. Lions: Henry Melton calls Detroit 'dirty'

Hopeful to play in his team's regular season finale against Detroit on Sunday, Chicago Bears defensive tackle Henry Melton told Adam L. Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times that he is hardly a fan of his opponent's over-the-top style of play.

The 26-year-old lineman is still nursing a collarbone injury that he suffered back on Dec. 9, but is quite confident that he was held out of last week's game against Arizona mainly as a precautionary measure. With his Bears still right in the thick of the NFC playoff race, Melton echoed the sentiments of many players around the league with his strong words about Detroit's dirty style of play.

"We have to do our thing against Detroit," Melton said Wednesday. "They're dirty. They've always been a dirty team since I've been here. They're just going to be looking for cheapshots and all that mess."

Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh was recently voted the NFL's dirtiest player by peers around the league for the second straight season, and a number of other Detroit players have had troubles both on and off the field over the last year alone. Though not many players are willing to attach their name to this type of criticism, it's hard to imagine Melton's comments aren't the consensus among the majority of players around the NFL at this point.