There may be no greater mystery at the quarterback position in the past decade of the NFL than Jay Cutler. For years experts have tried to figure out what makes him tick and what his problems are. Often without much success. He has as much or more talent than almost every other quarterback in the league. By rights he should be one of the five best going but for one reason or another he's never sustained success.
Some blame the constantly changing coaching staffs and poor blocking he's been under. Others think it's his poor decision-making and recklessness. Still more argue the biggest problem has been his rather off-putting personality that just isn't conducive to top tier quarterback play. Maybe it's a little bit of everything.
Either way the facts are hard to ignore. Cutler is 33-years old and dealing with the second notable injury to the thumb on his throwing hand. The Chicago Bears are 0-3 and staring down the barrel at a potential top five draft pick. That could mean a big change at quarterback is coming. How it ever got to this point is something experts are pondering. Why has Cutler not been able to elevate this team higher?
Perhaps the best way to answer that is by hearing reflections from former teammates who played with him. Ones like former 12-time Pro Bowl cornerback Champ Bailey. (continue to next page from top)
He appeared as a guest on The Herd with Colin Cowherd and the conversation came around to Cutler. Bailey and he were teammates for three seasons from 2006 to 2008. Cowherd asked him what being around the quarterback was like and was he a “jerk”?. Here’s what he had to say.
“Absolutely. And it’s not just guys in the locker room. He rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. Now this was back when he was a young guy. Jay Cutler (was) drafted in ’06. I played with him 3-4 years. He was a guy that we really didn’t look up to because he was such a young guy. We didn’t expect him to lead us. So I didn’t pay much attention to him as far as his attitude. Now what I did pay attention to was how he rubbed other people the wrong way like his teammates. Certain teammates, you know, like maybe a backup quarterback that I’ve spoken to since he’s left. Didn’t like him. Other guys that were on the roster at the time. Guys that really have nothing good to say about him. Now how he is now? I really can’t say how he is now. This is what I hear. Now this is my experience, this is what I know from him. But what I hear now? He’s much more grounded. He’s a married man, has kids now. He’s much more mature. That’s what I hear about him now.”Cowherd then took it a step further, saying it was a fascinating situation. From people he’d talked to they tended to say Cutler was a really good football player but just doesn’t have the personality to play quarterback. Bailey responded with this.
“You know, you could say that about him because you look at him, you see his demeanor and you run with it. And the reason you look at his demeanor as a sign of the way he is because since he’s been with the Bears they haven’t done anything. So when you see that demeanor all the time in losing situations, you think this guy doesn’t care. But he’s always like that. So that’s to his defense. He’s always like that.”Here is the video in its entirety. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkBoiE3rZyU The thing about great quarterbacks is they tend to all have the same thing in common. They know how to lead from the front. Like generals on a battlefield. Nobody is saying Cutler is not tough. That's furthest from the truth, but he has never struck as the type of guy willing to lead men like that. He's always been willing to let guys like Brian Urlacher, Olin Kreutz, Brandon Marshall and Pernell McPhee step to the forefront and be that vocal guy. Maybe that's what irritates teammates about him. How can a quarterback carry himself with such swagger and still be so shy at the same time? It's not a natural fit. Never mind the thin skin he seems to have whenever he thinks somebody on the team isn't on his side. Jay Cutler remains a very talented quarterback, but these latest reflections just offer more proof. Something has been missing with him. Chicago tried everything they could to figure out what it is. So far the search comes up empty.
