Cutler far from only one to blame for Chicago Bears loss

According to players and coaches, Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler inspired teammates with his best performance of the season and was praised for his preparation in an upset victory on Oct. 31 over the Minnesota Vikings.

But after the very next game, according to Twitter reports citing anonymous sources, "most of locker room has given up on Cutler" after a poor performance at Tampa Bay.

Such is the life of an NFL quarterback.

"Unnamed source, I'm guessing?" Cutler said when apprised of the reports.

"The source could be a lot of people," he said. "It could be a made-up source; it could actually be guys in there. If people actually start putting their names on it, we can have a discussion about it."

Cutler's level of preparation also was criticized by the same sources, so nine-year veteran wide receiver Eddie Royal was asked about the quarterback's preparation for Sunday's game against the New York Giants.

"He's been the same guy, and that's what you expect out of a pro, to come to work every single day the same way," Royal said. "Nothing has changed. He's busted his butt every day so far getting ready for the game."

Cutler said he wasn't surprised by the anonymous charges against him.

"The game before, it was the opposite end of the spectrum," he said. "Whenever you lose, we all know what this position entails, and when you do have a performance like that (in Tampa), as a quarterback you're going to get some of that stuff.

"But I've never felt like that in the locker room with those guys. The offense, myself included, we're definitely working to get better."

Bears offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains didn't absolve Cutler from his 4-turnover performance against the Bucs but said the meltdown was a team effort.

"It's all of us," Loggains said Thursday. "We win and lose together. He was the same guy who we were praising against Minnesota.

"Obviously he didn't play as well as we'd have liked (in Tampa). But I didn't coach as well as I would like to. And the staff (didn't either). No one (did). When you lose like that, no one plays well enough. No one does their job.

"It's a heavy burden to wear the crown. Jay's the quarterback. So it falls on him. It's nothing new. He can take the responsibility. So we've moved forward, and we're getting ready for the next one."

Loggains said Cutler's readiness for the 36-10 loss to the Bucs wasn't in question, but he added that it might have appeared that way - across the board.

"I didn't see that in his preparation," Loggains said. "But obviously the way we played I don't think any of us were prepared. We need to do a better job coaching. We need to do a better job of executing plays."

Expectations are that Cutler won't be back with the Bears next season, certainly not at his current level of pay.

The question for now is, can he still inspire and lead his teammates for the final seven games this season? The answer may change more than once before the end of the season.

"This is a week-to-week league," Loggains said. "(If) we execute as a team, all 11 guys, I think that we can go out and put together a good plan and play well."

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