Sports Radio Interviews

Here We Go Again! Another Mediocre Bears Quarterback

When the Bears acquired Jay Cutler in a trade this past August, many Bears fans rejoiced because they now finally have a Pro Bowl quarterback. Bears fans have been waiting for a quarterback since Jim McMahon was behind center. McMahon is the only Bears quarterback to ever be selected to a Pro Bowl in the modern era. McMahon was known for his brilliant football smarts when he stepped to the line to look over the defense to make the right reads as to where he wants to go with the ball. That isn’t exactly what Cutler is doing this season. Cutler leads the NFL in interceptions with 20 and most of those interceptions have been on the road. In fact, he has thrown 17 interceptions in just six games on the road this year. Now if they can only figure out how to play all their games at home they might have a chance.

Cutler is not the only one at fault here. Bears management should also be held accountable because this offense is lacking a clear number one receiver and the offensive line rarely gives him enough time to throw to an open target. In addition to their offensive woes, their defense hasn’t played well either. They just haven’t been playing the same since Brian Urlacher got injured and left a void in the middle of the defense. Bears fans should hold off on their judgment of Cutler until he actually has a legitimate number one receiver. You guys really do have a great quarterback in Cutler and once he has a bonafide stud you guys will be competing for the division title again.

Jay Cutler joined ESPN Chicago with Waddle and Silvy to talk about him not playing as well as he would like, where his communication is with the receivers, whether he would like to see the gameplan include a moving pocket, and whether he has lost his confidence at any time this season.

On him not playing as well as he would like:

“There’s a lot of things that go into making an offense go. Everyone is learning, we got a lot of young guys, I myself am still learning the system. So it’s a process as I’ve talked about many of times I’ve made some mistakes out there as have a lot of guys. So you know we just got to get better, including myself.”

On a scale of 1-10, where is the communication with receivers:

“Last time we went down this 1-10 thing I got in trouble for that. I’m not going down that road again. There are times when things break down I get outside the pocket and we’re still having some miscommunications of where the guys are settling in areas whether I want to keep moving or settle it down or choke it down. That comes with time, they’ve got to get used to me, I’ve got to get used to knowing where they’re going to be, so it’s a trust thing and it doesn’t happen overnight.”

Whether he is comfortable in the Bears offense and whether he and Ron Turner are on the same page:

“I’m comfortable. I know exactly what’s happening and what we’re trying to get done offensively. I know the system, so that’s kind of where that stands.”

Whether he would like to see the gameplan include a moving pocket:

“You know we could second guess a lot of things, we could say we can run the ball better, we can move the pocket more, we need to do more three step, more seven step, anytime you’re losing ball games there is going to be things that you wish you could do better. Maybe you’re not doing that well right now. We have to take a good look at ourselves, see our tendencies, seeing what we can do to see the offensive line, to help the receivers and help myself.”

Whether he has reached out to anyone for help:

“You know I’ve talked to all those people. It’s one of those years when nothing really is going my way. We’re getting balls that just seem to have magnets to the defenders so I know what I can do on the football field and I’m confident in my abilities. Like I’ve said it numerous times, it doesn’t happen overnight, we’re still learning as an offense. Until we all come together it’s not going to be perfect.”

On which guys have given him the best guidance:

“Oh, all of them are. All of them come from different kind of backgrounds to different ages, some have more experience than others but that’s kind of why I talk to as many people as possible and see what they’re saying. I’m making some mistakes out there, I’m well aware of that. There’s been some times when we’ve been in games when we’ve had to try to make some plays and put the ball in the air maybe a few more times than we would have liked to. When it boils down to is it is coming out of my hands so I’m responsible for it.”

Whether he has lost his confidence at any time this season:

“Any time that you’ve thrown as many picks as I’ve thrown you’re going to second guess yourself. You’re going to maybe not put some balls in the air that you normally would, take some chances. There’s some cases on film that you see we’ve got some guys running around and I’m not for sure what’s going to happen. It happened the first game in Green Bay, I let some balls go, and some guys broke some other ways. Things like that it’s nobody’s fault, its just one of those things where we’ve just got to get on the same page. Until that happens I’ve just got to be careful of letting the ball go in certain situations.”

Whether he was offended with Brian Urlacher mentioning Kyle Orton:

“You know I know Brian, I know him well, and I know he’s frustrated not only are we not winning ball games but he’s not out there playing with us. Should he have chose his words a little bit better, possibly. But you know we’re not going to get into that, I’m not going to lecture him on that. He’s been in this league longer than I have and he’s been very successful at what he’s done so he’s still my teammate; I wish we still had him. But I’m not going to get into a battle whether he should say certain things or not.”

Whether he feels that Urlacher has not embraced him:

“You know I feel the opposite, I really do. Since I got here he’s welcomed me, the defense has welcomed me, and it’s a very older team with a lot of veterans a lot of leaders especially defensively. You know they’ve been very supportive of me. There’s been a few comments out there that I think have got out of context a little bit, but I think Brian has always been on my side and I think he will as long as I’m here.”

Jay Cutler on ESPN Radio Chicago with Waddle and Silvy

Tags: Bears are mediocre again, Bears Pro Bowl QB, Brian Urlacher, Chicago Bears, Cutler leads the league in interceptions, Cutler leads the NFL in INT's, Jay Cutler, Jim McMahon, Lovie Smith, NFC North, NFL