Chicago Bears

Jay Cutler Doesn't Sound Ready To Be John Fox's Hero

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Sep 19, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler (6) drops back to pass against the Philadelphia Eagles during the first quarter at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

Jay Cutler has a reputation in the NFL. Not all of it good. Not all of it bad. One thing though that has been consistent about him is the issue of trust.

Cutler is a man who prefers to keep his personal life close knit. He’s not big on endorsements or interviews. On the field it’s no different. If he doesn’t believe in a wide receiver or a tight end, they aren’t going to get the football. He’s going to feed the players he knows will make a play for him. For better or worse. One can’t fault him for feeling this way. It’s a natural response for many human beings on this planet.

What many don’t know is Cutler extends this same stance to coaches. Throughout his professional career the man has had four different head coaches and seven different offensive coordinators. This has earned him a reputation for being a coach killer. Not entirely fair given some of the questionable names he had to work with but one of the overlooked aspects of this is how he has learned to become untrustworthy of head coaches.

This is a man who was becoming a Pro Bowl star under the watch of Mike Shanahan eight years ago. Then his world was turned upside down when the Denver Broncos fired the veteran coach after a late-season collapse. Josh McDaniels was brought in and he soured things right away during a destructive meeting with Cutler, in which he berated and criticized his game. One could say Jay’s mistrust of football authorities really began during those few months.

What has result from this is his tendency to check out of games or seasons when he doesn’t feel an organization is behind him.

Nov 9, 2014; Green Bay, WI, USA; Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler (6) talks to head coach Marc Trestman in the second quarter during the game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Ask Marc Trestman. Late in the 2013 season rumors began to spread that the former Bears coach wanted to keep Josh McCown in as the starter. His reasoning was sound enough. McCown was playing some good football, going 3-2 and throwing 13 touchdown to one interception. The problem is this went against his assurance that when Cutler was healthy he was the starting quarterback. So in essence Jay felt lied to by Trestman. In such situations players often stop listening to a coach.

That may sound foolish but what happened in 2014 says otherwise. Cutler led the league in turnovers and the divide between him and Trestman grew so strained that he was eventually benched in the second-to-last game of the year for Jimmy Clausen. Chicago finished 5-11 and Trestman was fired.

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Then it’s time for John Fox. He doesn’t make the same mistake in 2015. He says he’s committed to nobody long-term. Cutler will be the starter but the job is his to lose. Jay responded with the best season, efficiency-wise, of his career. Unfortunately that’s when Fox fell into the trap. With 2016 beginning he and GM Ryan Pace declared Cutler was their starter. Period. End of story. He’d earned the job.

Fast forward a few weeks and he begins to feel the same tug as Trestman. Backup QB Brian Hoyer is putting up four-straight 300-yard games and not turning the football over. Being the conservative coach he is, Fox began to consider the idea of a permanent change.

As a result Cutler found himself declared doubtful for every game moving forward. This despite persistent rumors that he was healing well and maybe could’ve been back sooner. Not until Hoyer breaks his arm on Thursday Night in Green Bay does he almost magically return to practice without a single complication. That makes a conspiracy theorist believe Fox and the coaches were trying to keep him off the field long enough to see if Hoyer could give them enough reason to make a permanent switch.

For a competitor with trust issues like Cutler, that is a monumental mistake given their current situation.

Oct 2, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bears head coach John Fox during the second half against the Detroit Lions at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports

One merely has to read the words Cutler spoke during his first press conference back as the starter on Tuesday to understand his mindset. He doesn’t sound like a man ready to seize the reins and pull this team out of the fire. He sounds like a man resigned to his fate.

Jay is a competitor who still tries to win football games but he also doesn’t play his best when he doesn’t believe a word that comes out of his coaches’ mouth. Put it this way. In the first six games they were together, Cutler threw 12 touchdowns to just six interceptions under Trestman. Then he got hurt. By the time he got back healthy and knowing Trestman wanted to replace him, he threw 34 touchdowns to 22 interceptions over their remaining 18 games together.

That’s a 2-to-1 touchdown to interception ratio falling to a 1.88-to-1.22 ratio. Touchdowns go down and interceptions go up.

Now John Fox is thinking everything is just fine. Jay is back as the starter and all is right with the world. Thing is it doesn’t work that way with Cutler. He’s not the kind of guy who pulls a team from a 1-6 hole back to respectability. He’s a survivalist. He’ll fight for teammates, win a couple of games, but expecting him to go on a tear in order to save Fox’s own skin? That just doesn’t seem like his style.

Cutler is a professional to be sure and will play hard. At the same time, it wouldn’t be surprising if he just went through the motions the rest of this one. A last spiteful shot at the coaches who he thinks may have just sabotaged his last opportunity to start in the NFL. Petty? Maybe to an extent, but understandable nonetheless.

If he does play well down the stretch, it will be out of the simple selfish reason that he’s gone next year otherwise.

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