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With Clausen out, Trestman turns to Cutler

Jay Cutler's benching lasted just one game.

In fill-in Jimmy Clausen's first start in four years, he suffered a concussion in Sunday's 20-14 loss to Detroit and already has been ruled out for the season finale against at Minnesota.

Clausen was injured at the end of a 2-yard scramble when he was hit helmet to helmet by Lions defensive end Ezekiel "Ziggy" Ansah, who drew an unnecessary-roughness penalty on the play late in the fourth quarter.

Four plays later, Clausen's desperation heave down the east sideline was intercepted, ending the Bears' last chance to avoid their fourth straight defeat.

Coach Marc Trestman had benched Cutler and inserted Clausen in search of a needed spark at quarterback. Clausen, who had thrown just 9 passes in four seasons, avoided the mistakes that have plagued Cutler - at least until the final series.

He completed 23 of 39 passes for 181 yards and 2 touchdowns, but it wasn't enough to prevent a fourth straight loss for the 5-10 Bears, who could see massive changes throughout the organization after this disappointing season.

Clausen did not exhibit concussion symptoms until Sunday night, although he was evaluated by the Bears' medical staff immediately after the hit by Ansah, after the interception and following the game.

Before leaving Soldier Field, Clausen was told to contact team trainers if he experienced delayed symptoms, which he did. He was taken to a hospital where he was diagnosed with a concussion.

So now it's back to Cutler.

"Jay gives us the best chance this week," Trestman said when asked if rookie David Fales was a consideration. "That's why he'll be out there. And David will be in the backup role.

"David has worked very hard, (but) he has not had the opportunities that Jimmy's had throughout the season. (Cutler) was the quarterback when we played Minnesota in the first game (a 21-13 Bears victory on Nov. 16), and he'll be the quarterback this Sunday."

Cutler's 89.5 passer rating is the highest of his career for a single season, as are his 28 touchdown passes. But he leads the NFL with 18 interceptions and 24 turnovers.

In the first game against the Vikings, Cutler completed 31 of 43 passes for 330 yards with 3 touchdown passes and 2 interceptions for a 98.0 passer rating.

Trestman declined to answer if Clausen would have started this week if healthy.

"Obviously Jay's the choice here," Trestman said. "And he was ready to go last week through the week of preparation, in the meetings, and his involvement with the quarterbacks in the meeting room. He'll be ready to go this week."

Cutler said publicly that he didn't take the demotion well but that he understood Trestman's reasons for making the move. Trestman doesn't anticipate any problems this week in dealing with the league's highest-paid player, even after he benched Cutler for the first time in the quarterback's life.

"I think that was evident last week in terms of our relationship," Trestman said. "Jay's comments to the media were very similar to mine. We didn't practice together, in terms of what we were going to say.

"I said very specifically that I believe that Jay can work his way out of this. And I've enjoyed coaching him and working with him. We had dialogue last week, and we worked together last week. It was a tough week on him.

"I empathize with him on that. But we're moving forward."

Although it was only one week, Trestman said Cutler tried to use his time on the bench to get better.

"He's an experienced quarterback, but he's very observant," Trestman said. "He watches everything. He watches other players around the league. He's on a journey of his own. It's been a very, very tough year for him in terms of playing at a consistent level, but I've seen this before and I have faith that he's going to return.

"He'll go to work this week and put himself in the best position to help our football team win and take the things out of the game last week that he could have learned by standing and watching and observing the continuity of the game."

With the future of everyone at Halas Hall tenuous, Sunday could be Cutler's final appearance in a Bears uniform.

• Follow Bob's Bears and NFL reports on Twitter@BobLeGere.

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