Plenty of drama with Cutler's matchup with Orton

Much has been made of Bears quarterback Jay Cutler's return to Denver, the city where he earned a Pro Bowl berth but failed to lead the team to the playoffs before leaving town after a series of highly charged disputes with the team's front office and new head coach.

And then there's the matter of a Mile High duel pitting Cutler against former Bears quarterback Kyle Orton, who is trying to secure the starting job for the Broncos after compiling a 21-12 career record as a starter in Chicago but failing to get the Bears to the playoffs last season.

Add in the angry and disappointed Denver fans who once saw Cutler as the heir to John Elway, and there clearly is plenty of drama for this Sunday night preseason game (7 p.m. NBC-5 TV, WBBM 780-AM). On top of that, of course, is Denver's suspension of its Pro Bowl wide receiver, Brandon Marshall, for his "detrimental" conduct and incessant pouting in an attempt to force a trade.

But tonight's game is more than Cutler confronting his past and leaving the shadow of Denver behind him. There are plenty of issues Bears coaches want to see resolved during this nationally televised contest.

Most of tonight's national TV audience will be looking to see how well Cutler throws the ball, but Bears coaches will be more interested in how well Cutler's passes are caught and by whom.

They already know the new quarterback can bring it - what they need to see is who can go get it.

Cutler and the rest of the first team will play into the third quarter, and in passing situations backup wide receivers Rashied Davis, Brandon Rideau and Devin Aromashodu will all get reps with the starters. One of them should emerge after this game as the No. 3 wide receiver behind starters Devin Hester and Earl Bennett.

The No. 3 spot means significant snaps during the regular season, and the No. 4 spot, not so much. In most games last season, the Bears didn't even dress a fifth wide receiver.

So tonight will, for the most part, be the final audition with the starters, considering none of the regulars will play little in next Thursday's final preseason game.

"There are individuals that you say, 'All right, we've got to make sure we get a good look at this guy early in the game under fire,'" offensive coordinator Ron Turner said. "And I would say probably that's the receivers more than anything.

"We want to take a look at some of these guys that have done a good job for us. We wanted to get (Aromashodu) in last week. We wanted to get him in with Jay, get him in the flow early, and see if he could make a play, which he's been doing all camp. He got in, and he did (make a play)."

Aromashodu's lunging fingertip grab of a 38-yard Cutler pass early in the second quarter left the Bears one yard short of their second TD.

But that's his only reception of the preseason, while Rideau has 2 for 21 yards and Davis has 3 receptions for 38 yards.

"So there will be some guys like (Aromashodu) we'll want to look at, probably more so than (other) things."

The Bears have game planned for their third exhibition, just as other NFL teams do, but it's more about evaluating individuals than schemes, with the player cutdown to 75 on Sept. 1 and the final cutdown to 53 just four days later.

"As far as plays and schemes, we're going to run our base plays," Turner said. "We want to game-plan enough to have success, but there are also some individuals that we've got to give a chance to make plays."

In order for big plays to be made in the passing game, the rebuilt offensive line, which features three new starters, must continue to protect Cutler, who has yet to be sacked.

Left tackle Orlando Pace, left guard Frank Omiyale, both free agents, and right tackle Chris Williams are all new members of a line that had as only two holdovers, center Olin Kreutz and right guard Roberto Garza.

The gelling is a work in progress, but the early results are encouraging.

It helps that Pace is a 13-year veteran and Williams had a year in the system after being selected in the first round of the 2008 draft.

"We've liked what we've seen from our offensive line," coach Lovie Smith said. "We have some new guys in different positions, but we've been pleased with them.

"Omiyale has taken huge steps, to say the least, and Orlando Pace has been in that situation before. Chris Williams has been around, but just seeing him grow from day to day, that's what you want. I like what we're doing up front, and hopefully they'll continue to play that way."

Cutler does, too.