Kevin Kolb not "skittish" about calling Kelly "Clueless" in war of words

Last night following the Raiders preseason matchup versus the Cardinals, Raiders defensive tackle Tommy Kelly criticized Cardinals starting quarterback, Kevin Kolb, for his play in the game.

"He is skittish. He is scared back there," said Kelly. "Anytime anybody gets close to him he starts looking at the refs. As a defensive lineman you love a quarterback like that. He ain't even trying to look at the routes no more. He is paying attention to us and you ain't going to get nothing done like that."

Kelly's comments were mainly due to Kolb's reaction when he was pressured in the pocket during the game.

The Cardinals second possession of the game would begin on their own five yard line. And in three plays, it became a safety. Rolando McClain and Richard Seymour put pressure on Kolb and he was called for intentional grounding. Then with the ball at the one yard line, Kelly shot through to sack Kolb for a safety.

The Cardinals' next possession also ended in three plays with same result. Kelly got pressure on second down to force an incompletion from Kolb. Then on the next play the Raiders sent the house and Kolb was gang tackled for a sack. Next drive, same thing Lamarr Houston sacked Kolb on second down, and Dave Tollefson hit Kolb and flushed him from the pocket to force and incompletion.

These series had Kelly saying Kolb was "Scared" at halftime. And he reiterated and expanded upon that statement after the game. Today, Kolb heard about it and fired back in a statement for the team's official website.

"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."

You can bet this isn't the end of this. Although when the media asks Kelly about it, he would be wise to squash it and move on. We'll see how that goes.