Cutler "In Good Shape," O-Line Questions Remain

By Chuck Sudo in News on Oct 5, 2010 5:30PM

It's amazing to read this town's sportswriters and hear the sports radio blowhards turn on a dime from praising the "stay the course" leadership of Bears head coach Lovie Smith during a 3-0 start, to crucifying Smith and his coaching staff for not making the necessary adjustments to protect Jay Cutler from the concussion he ultimately received Sunday night against the New York Giants.

Now that everyone's back in "the Bears are who we thought they were mode," the focus falls back on trying to protect Cutler from suffering another concussion atop the one he's already recovering from, or suffering a separate but equally serious injury. Since the Bears' offensive line, as currently constructed, couldn't adequately block for a Lingerie Football League scrimmage, talk goes to why offensive coordinator Mike Martz didn't at least return to the three-step drops that protected Cutler in the Bears' win over Dallas.

In the meantime, LovieBot stayed the course in his news conference yesterday, saying that Cutler is in "pretty good shape" and is preparing in practice this week as though he expects to start. A telling moment from the news conference: despit a record nine first-half sacks by the Giants, Smith never considered taking Cutler out of the game. "We're trying to win a football game, and Jay gave us our best option to do that," he said.

Which is probably why, instead of taking precautions to ensure Cutler fully recovers, he's not being benched in favor of Caleb Hanie as the "Fire Lovie" chorus starts anew.