Jay Cutler watch: Day 3 in pads not so impressive

It was the third straight day of practice in full pads and the least impressive day for quarterback Jay Cutler.

He completed 8 of 12 passes in 7-on-7, most of them short check-downs or dump-offs to tight ends or running backs. In his defense, Cutler's receivers didn't do a great job of getting separation in their routes.

The first 11-on-11 segment was Cutler's best. He found Greg Olsen over the middle in traffic and Earl Bennett in a seam 20 yards downfield. A pass intended for Devin Hester would have drawn a pass-interference penalty against Zack Bowman.

In the next 11-on-11 drill, Cutler completed just 2 of 5. Both completions were short tosses, including a screen to Matt Forte that in a game situation would have been blown up by nose tackle Anthony Adams, who was all over it and shouted "BOOM," just as Forte made the catch.

In the two-minute drill at the end of practice, Cutler completed 3 of 6, setting Robbie Gould up for a 53-yard field goal. Just before the kick, Cutler barely overthrew Bennett, who almost made a diving grab at the goal line.

"He's been in that situation a few times," coach Lovie Smith said of Cutler. "We feel comfortable with him. That's the money part of the game. A guy like Jay, it seems like that's in his track record."