Ignoring comparisons, Orton only focusing on wins
Sunday night's nationally televised game between the Bears and Broncos will be anything but just another preseason exhibition.
First off it's the third game for each team, which traditionally is when starters get more playing time than any other preseason game, often as much as three full quarters. And it's also an opportunity to evaluate how the quarterback swap of Kyle Orton (plus draft choices) for Jay Cutler is working out for each team.
Both have taken their share of abuse from Broncos fans - Cutler for leaving, and Orton for not being Cutler, who was considered a worthy successor to Hall of Famer John Elway until he bolted.
While Cutler has the better on-the-field reputation, Orton has better receivers as long as off-the-field distractor Brandon Marshall is playing, which he hasn't been lately.
Orton says he doesn't care who throws more TD passes this season because, "I don't think touchdown passes necessarily equal wins, so why would that matter to me?"
Orton has a better won-loss record, having gone 21-12 as a starter while Cutler is 17-20. But Orton isn't gloating.
"You guys can choose to evaluate it any way you want," he told Chicago-area media members. "But I'm looking forward to taking this team to the playoffs and doing a lot of great things."
Bears defenders know what things Orton was asked to do as a 15-game starter in his rookie season of 2005, when he went 10-5 after being forced into the lineup ahead of schedule, and when he went 9-6 last season after winning the job from Rex Grossman. But they don't know what type of QB he'll be with Denver.
"When Kyle was here, I guess it was, 'just don't make too many mistakes,' " defensive end Alex Brown said. "I don't know what their offense requires him to do. Maybe it requires him to be more aggressive than he was here. He's going to make safe throws, and he's going to get rid of the ball.
"But, if he gives us time, if he pumps the ball and then comes back to a second or third read, we have to get there. Orton's a smart player, he knows us, he knows that we're going to be coming, so he better get rid of the ball."
Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner believes Orton has the qualities and intangibles to be a successful quarterback in Denver, even though he is off to an uneven start with fans.
"He's a good player," Turner said. "He's talented. He's extremely intelligent, a very good leader, and he's got a tremendous work ethic."
It all got him through some difficult times in Chicago.
"It was tough (for him)," Turner said. "He came in and started as a rookie (after Rex Grossman was hurt and Chad Hutchinson played his way out of town). The next year he's not starting; in fact, he's third. That was tough on him. It would have been tough on anybody, but he handled it the right way. He came to work every day and he learned. He learned how to prepare, waited his turn.
"When he had an opportunity, because of that he was ready. He started out well before he got hurt (sprained ankle) last year. He was having a fabulous year."
Before the ankle injury, Orton had 10 TD passes and just 4 interceptions in eight starts. He was rushed back onto the field after missing just one game, before he was fully healed, and he threw 8 TD passes and 8 interceptions in the final seven games.
"I tried to come back as early as I (could) to help the team," Orton said. "Maybe it was too early. I certainly wasn't full strength, but I thought it was the best move to help our team win and get us in the playoffs."
<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=317157">Turner tries to prepare Cutler for boo-birds<span class="date"> [8/27/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>