Cutler willing to use his feet
By TOM MUSICK - Shaw Suburban Media
LAKE FOREST – At 6-foot-3-inches tall and 233 pounds, Bears quarterback Jay Cutler has proved this season that he can bounce back to his feet after absorbing a crushing hit.
And another crushing hit. And another crushing hit. And … well, you get the idea.
Cutler, 26, would prefer not to spend the bulk of his $30 million contract extension on a few decades worth of medical bills. So after he was hit seven times and bloodied Sunday against one of the worst defenses in the NFL, Cutler and Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner talked about ways to protect the quarterback.
One possible security measure is for Cutler to scramble outside of offensive tackles Orlando Pace and Chris Williams instead of dropping straight back to pass. Those unprotected, or “naked” routes, could buy more time for Cutler to make plays on his feet instead of viewing Soldier Field from his back.
“[That way], I’m not sitting there at five or eight yards [behind the line], and defensive ends don’t know exactly where to attack from,” Cutler said Wednesday. “So yeah, I think it’s a great idea.”
At this point, anything other than “cross your fingers” might sound like a great idea to Cutler. He has been sacked 15 times in seven games with the Bears after he was sacked 11 times all of last season in Denver.
Turner said he also liked the idea of putting Cutler on the move more frequently.
“It just keeps the defense off balance a little bit,” Turner said. “They don’t know where he’s going to be every time. … We’re not going to go crazy with it, but it might be something that we look at a little bit.”
Bears coach Lovie Smith was the only person at Halas Hall to caution against a more mobile strategy. Smith has been known to say one thing and do another, but he spoke at length about the plan’s limitations.
“Once you start putting them [outside of the pocket], you constrict the field,” Smith said. “That’s limiting some of the things that you can do. I think where a mobile guy is at his best is when he’s in the middle of the field and he can go to both sides.”
After the Bears scored two touchdowns in seven attempts inside of the Cleveland Browns’ 20-yard line last week, an angry Turner hinted at simplifying the offense. He backpedaled from those comments Wednesday and defended the Bears’ offensive line, which has drawn heavy scrutiny for Cutler’s frequent poundings.
“I think some of that is blown out of proportion,” Turner said. “We give up four sacks, and everyone says, ‘The line gave up four sacks.’ The line didn’t necessarily give up four sacks.
“When you get a sack, it could be the quarterback, it could be the receiver, it could be the tight end, it could be the [running] back,” Turner said. “It could be a lot of people who could be responsible for that.”
Regardless, more missed blocks could threaten Cutler’s health. He said he felt sore after Sunday’s game, which was the latest painful weekend in a season that has featured more blitzes than he saw with Denver.
“Last year, when I was in Denver, I didn’t really get that much pressure,” Cutler said. “I saw a lot more ‘Cover 2.’ … Now they’re going from zoning it out to doing a lot of different, crazy looks.
“It’s not just blitzing,” he said. “It’s blitzing from different angles, blitzing with different people, rolling coverages up. They’ve got to void some zones [in the secondary]. It’s just a matter of if you have enough time to find them.”
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