Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler knew what buttons to push Thursday night against the Miami Dolphins, and he began pushing them before the game.

Cutler knew what it would take to rile up Miami's emotional wide receiver Brandon Marshall, who was Cutler's teammate on the Denver Broncos. And what he said to Marshall before the game appeared to play a role in a 15-yard taunting penalty against Marshall in the second quarter.

"Brandon's one of my good friends," Cutler said Friday on "The Waddle & Silvy Show" on ESPN 1000. "I just got him fired up before the game. I told him we were going to put someone over the top on him and limit him as much as possible.

"That frustrates him probably more than anything. He's such a competitor, he wants the ball on every play. Whenever teams go out of their way to shut him down, just as a sign of respect, it really gets to him. So I tried to fire him up as much as possible."