Colts receiver T.Y. Hilton says Seahawks' insults hit 'switch'

Jarrett Bell | USA TODAY Sports

INDIANAPOLIS — T.Y. Hilton's big game started with an insult.

Don't blame the loquacious Richard Sherman.

It was another Seahawks cornerback, Brandon Browner, who lit a fire under Hilton.

"Browner said I'm light as (expletive)," Hilton told USA TODAY Sports after his sizzling performance helped the Indianapolis Colts post a 34-28 victory.

Hilton, who caught five passes for a career-high 140 yards with 2 touchdowns, was offended that Browner made a disparaging remark about his weight.

The second-year receiver from Florida International is 5-9, 178 pounds.

He played plenty big, though, in the comeback on Sunday. Hilton said Browner trash-talked him early in the first quarter — when the Colts opened sluggishly, with three-and-outs on their first three possessions and fell behind 12-0.

"He made me hit the light switch that nobody's seen," Hilton said. "He made that decision. So they should blame him."

Hilton ignited the Colts comeback with a 73-yard touchdown, when he lined up in the right slot and slipped through hole in zone coverage as he broke to the corner to haul in the deep pass from Andrew Luck. After evading safety Earl Thomas near the 20-yard line, he regained his balance and streaked down the sideline.

In the third quarter, he got his big revenge on Browner, burning the big, 6-4, 221-pound cornerback on a go route for a 29-yard TD.

Guess that's one way to respond to an insult.

"He pushed the button," Hilton said. "So he deserved it."

Hilton, though, can surely speak up for himself.

When someone asked him about the man-on-man coverage that he faced repeatedly from the physical Seahawks cornerbacks, he said, "Man, that's disrespecting me."

Interestingly, Hilton said the never heard a peep from Sherman, the all-pro cornerback who has a reputation for getting under the skin of opponents with sharp trash-talking.

"Richard Sherman? He wouldn't even look me in the eye," Hilton said. "Not at all. The whole time."

Hilton, no doubt, had the last word with his big-game performance.