New teammates eager to get to work with Cutler

While Jay Cutler says he can't lead the Bears to the Super Bowl by himself, some of his new teammates are convinced he gives them a better chance to get there.

"The NFL is a quarterback-driven league," said tight end Greg Olsen, whose ability to stretch the field vertically fits perfectly with the strong-armed Cutler's ability to go deep. "Look at the Cardinals. They made that (Super Bowl) run pretty much because of their ability to make plays (in the passing game). At this level, with our defense, if we can just put some points on the board and have a guy to throw it, with guys who can help him out and make plays, that's a recipe for success."

Olsen has proven his ability to make plays since he was drafted in the first round in 2007. He was second on the Bears last season with 54 catches and 574 receiving yards, and he led the team with 5 TD catches. Olsen made significant strides from his rookie season, when he caught 39 passes for 391 yards with 2 touchdowns. His production should continue to increase with Cutler at quarterback.

"Obviously he's regarded among the guys as one of the top quarterbacks in the entire league, (regardless) of age or experience," Olsen said. "He made the Pro Bowl last year and was top three in passing yards. For a young guy at 25 to have those kind of statistics, I think he made a lot of guys around him better."

Cutler, however, insists he's counting on his teammates to make him better, too.

"I'm going to be as good as the guys around me," he said. "I can't do it by myself. The quarterback position's hard enough. You've got to have guys around you to make it happen. We struggled with the run game last year (in Denver), and we didn't make the playoffs. Here, we have to get Devin (Hester) and Earl (Bennett) and all those guys. It's going to be fun, and we're going to start Monday."

On Monday, the Bears' off-season program begins, and Hester can't wait to get on the field with Cutler, even though he wishes Kyle Orton the best as Denver's new quarterback.

"This was a piece that everyone was looking forward to, even though my prayers go out to Kyle," Hester said. "He was just starting to get into his prime, but it's a business, and he moves on, and we're looking forward to Jay coming in and being the man."

Hester made major progress last season in his switch from defense to wide receiver, more than doubling his receptions (from 20 to 51), and his yardage (from 299 to 651) in one year. He's looking for similar improvement in '09.

"I want to be better than what I was last year," Hester said. "My goal in whatever I do is to be twice as good as I was last year. Last year was pretty all right, but this year I want to be double than what I was last year."