Chicago Bears' Cutler can now prepare to face Vikings

It may not make an appreciable difference on a 1-6 team that is staring at a matchup with the NFL's best defense, but Jay Cutler is returning as the Chicago Bears' starting quarterback.

"Jay has been cleared to play by the medical people," coach John Fox said, "and he should begin that preparation (Tuesday). They looked at him over the weekend and felt like it was a go."

Because they play Monday night - against the 5-1 Vikings - the Bears practice Tuesday, which is normally a day off. Wednesday becomes their off-day this week, and they return to practice Thursday through Saturday.

Cutler has not played since Monday night, Sept. 19, when he suffered a sprained right thumb early in the Bears' 29-14 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, which dropped them to 0-2.

The Bears went 1-4 behind replacement Brian Hoyer, who suffered a fractured arm in the second quarter of Thursday's 26-10 loss to the Packers in Green Bay. Hoyer produced impressive overall stats (98.0 passer rating, 6 touchdowns, zero interceptions) and took just 4 sacks, but he failed to turn yardage into points.

Despite an abysmal overall offensive showing in Green Bay that generated just 189 yards, the Bears still are a respectable 16th out of 32 teams in total yards. But they're last in scoring, averaging just 15.9 points a game.

No. 3 quarterback Matt Barkley, who only has been with the team since Sept. 5, replaced Hoyer at Green Bay because Cutler was inactive. Not surprisingly, Barkley struggled in his first game as a Bear, which was only the fifth game of his four-year career.

For a team in search of a spark, Cutler's return is much anticipated.

"Jay Cutler (is) one of the reasons I signed with the Chicago Bears, knowing that he has a winning personality and a great arm to back it up," said defensive end Akiem Hicks, a free-agent addition from the New England Patriots. "I look forward to him being back on the field."

Cutler was off to a disappointing start even before his injury. Though it's a small sample size (46 passes), the 11-year veteran had 28 completions with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions for a 75.7 passer rating. He also was sacked eight times.

During Cutler's hiatus, Fox seemed to indicate that, even after he was fully recovered, the opening-day starter might not be reinstated if Hoyer continued to play as well as he did in his first three starts.

Though the Bears went 1-2 in those games, Hoyer had a combined passer rating of 110.0.

On Monday, Fox said a quarterback competition wasn't exactly what he had in mind.

"Some things that I say go somewhere that I wasn't really intending," Fox said. "At the end of the day … obviously Jay's our starter.

"He was injured; not permitted to play medically. And now that he's healed he's back to being our starter. That's the facts and what happened and where we're at now.

"So I don't know that there was a competition to speak of. Just like there wasn't a competition when Matt Barkley went in - he was our only quarterback left."

Rookie center Cody Whitehair made his first snap in a regular-season game to Cutler in Week 1, and he anticipates a seamless reacquaintance.

"We'll have to get our snaps back and get comfortable with those," Whitehair said, "but I don't think we'll have any issues. It's nice to have him back. He's been a leader on the sideline, even while he wasn't playing, and it'll be nice to have him back out there."

Cutler was unavailable Monday, but, according to Fox, he has been eager to get back on the field and be more than a coach and cheerleader.

"I think he's been (champing) at the bit for a while," Fox said. "Anytime you can't play, as a competitor, that's hard, and I think he handled it great. He was very involved in the game-planning. He's been very helpful and been a great teammate."

Hoyer had surgery Sunday, was placed on injured reserve Monday and is expected to miss the remainder of the season. The Bears, who lost backup quarterback Connor Shaw with a fractured leg in the preseason, will consider adding another backup behind Barkley as insurance.

"We'll look at it," Fox said. "It could be important to have a third guy, especially because we've been through three already."

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