How 'limited' is Jay Cutler? Bears won't say
Bears coach John Fox likes to keep opponents guessing by publicly feigning uncertainty on injury information even when he knows what's up.
But this week, the uncertain status of Jay Cutler's strained hamstring is no ruse. The availability of the starting quarterback may not be known, even to Fox, until shortly before Sunday's noon kickoff against the 2-1 Oakland Raiders.
For the second straight day, Cutler's participation at practice was officially "limited." But he didn't appear to have any restrictions in his movements or his ability to throw during the portion of practice accessible to media.
"We're day-to-day just like every week," Fox said when asked if Cutler would play. "We just evaluate the way they practice. When medical people say they're healthy, we play them. Simple as that."
If Cutler isn't cleared, Jimmy Clausen would get the nod for the second straight game. Clausen struggled last week and the Bears had just 48 net passing yards as they fell to 0-3.
Cutler joked around when he was asked about a national report that said he would miss two games shortly after he suffered the injury late in the second quarter of the Week Two loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
"When it happened, I heard it was two weeks," Cutler said. "Then I heard ... Am I playing this week or not? What's the report now? I think Alshon's playing, and I'm not. I'm (supposed to be) out, right? So I'm out."
Cutler appears much closer to returning than wide receiver Alshon Jeffery who, for the second straight day, did not run routes or catch passes during the segment of practice open to media.
"We'll see how it goes," Cutler said. "We've still got a couple of days left. I don't think we're exactly where we want to be. But no one really is 100 percent healthy right now."
Offensive coordinator Adam Gase indicated that the game plan is the same regardless of who's at quarterback, but how that plan is carried out could be tweaked depending on who's taking snaps.
"For me, it's just having a plan for whoever coach Fox tells me is going to go," Gase said. "You put your plan together, and then you're just ready to move some things around as far as what you're going to do to open up the game and how things will change during the game. "Each guy has a different skill set, and whatever one goes, we'll use that guy's best assets."
Last week's ultraconservative game plan kept the Bears within striking distance of the heavily favored Seahawks into the second half, but the end result was a 26-0 loss.
"The one regret I have is, in that second half, I wish I would have pulled the trigger maybe a little bit sooner," Gase said, "as far as being more aggressive on some of those first- and second-down calls."
Before he was hurt against the Cardinals, Cutler ran three times for 24 yards, utilizing a zone-read look that was new to the Bears' offense and provided an additional dimension. That won't be part of the package until Cutler's hamstring is 100 percent.
"It worked well," Cutler said. "You've just got to know when to get down and when you've got enough yardage and end it right there. We were rolling a little bit. Hopefully we can add on to that as we go on throughout the year."
Before Cutler was hurt against the Cardinals attempting to make a tackle after his second interception of the season, he had completed 8 of 8 passes for 120 yards and a touchdown, a perfect passer rating of 158.3.
"We were moving along," Cutler said. "We were figuring it out on offense. We were starting to click a little bit. Hopefully we can get back on track this week."
If the Bears don't get it done against the upstart Raiders, it might be a while until they crack the win column, as road games vs. the Chiefs and Lions follow leading up to the bye week.
That might be the best reason of all to get Cutler back on the field Sunday.
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