GREEN BAY, Wis. – Andrew Quarless will let others decide whether the hit that injured his knee and knocked him out for at least eight weeks was a dirty play.

In his first public comments since the Green Bay Packers tight end sprained his MCL – an injury that landed him on temporary injured reserve -- all Quarless would say is that Kansas City Chiefs rookie cornerback Marcus Peters hit him low.

“It was definitely low, but you know, I think sometimes smaller guys tend to go lower,” Quarless said Thursday. “I don’t know if it was a dirty hit. Some people think it is, but it’s football.”

Quarless said the low hit caused his left knee to hyperextend. He said it reminded him of the hit receiver Randall Cobb took in 2013, when he fractured a bone in his leg and also went on the temporary IR list, which was a play that Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers initially took offense to. The good news for Quarless was that it’s not the same knee he blew out in 2011 – an injury that caused him to miss a year and a half.

“I’m definitely grateful that it’s not an ACL,” he said. “I was a little nervous on the sideline. I walked into the locker room, and I was a little nervous, but like I said, I’m thankful, it could’ve been a lot worse, and I’m just motivated every day.”

By rule, he can’t practice for six weeks and can’t play for eight, retroactive to when he was placed on the designated-to-return list, meaning he will be eligible to play again on Nov. 26 against the Chicago Bears.

It’s been a rough year for Quarless, who was arrested this summer on charges that he fired a gun into the air (his next hearing is scheduled for Oct. 26 in Florida) and then lost his daughter, who died at birth this summer.

“You know, I think everything happens for a reason,” Quarless said. “This to me happened for a reason. It gives me a chance to … it does slow your life down. When you’re moving around slow, it kind of puts things in perspective, but it’s really just given me time to evaluate life. But every day I’m thankful and I’m motivated.”