Jul 28, 2016; Bourbonnais, IL, USA; Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler (6) during training camp at Olivet Nazarene University. Photo Credit: Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports
BOURBONNAIS, Ill. — Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler didn’t exactly inspire confidence the offense can get through a period of adjustment.
He made that clear on the team’s first full day of training camp this year at Olivet Nazarene University on Thursday.
Without running back Matt Forte — now with the New York Jets — he anticipates a period of adjustment as Jeremy Langford and Ka’Deem Carey take over in a multi-back attack.
Replacing Forte won’t be easy.
“You can’t,” Cutler said. “Just his knowledge and him being here so long, his experience on the field, his experience playing with me – most of the time I’d tell him something or just look at him and he’d know exactly what I was thinking.
“You can’t replace him, you can’t replace him in a year anyway. We’ve got a good group of young backs that we’re going to develop and we’re going to put as much time as we can into those guys. They’ll get there.”
Cutler experienced a career-best 92.3 passer rating last season under former offensive coordinator Adam Gase.
“I think a lot of it was the system and the way Adam called plays and manipulated the game in that regard,” Cutler said. “He definitely took care of quarterbacks and receivers and offensive linemen, and just the way he called games.
“I think Dowell, actually I know Dowell has a lot of that same thought process in his mind. He’s going to try as hard as he can not to put us in bad positions. A lot of that is going to help my game, as well.”
Offensive lineman Kyle Long, who injured a calf muscle during Thursday’s practice, said the Bears feel genuinely disrespected around the league with the lack of talk about their chances.
Cutler didn’t exactly have his teammate’s back in putting the chip on everyone’s shoulder.
“Whenever you’re coming off losing seasons back to back like that, that’s kind of how it goes,” Cutler said. “There’s no reason for anyone to really expect a huge change from our last two seasons, which is fine.
“That shouldn’t bother him (Long) or anyone else in that locker room. Our main goal and our main objective is just to try to get better through training camp and try to win football games. As long as we’re keeping it one game at a time, it’ll take care of itself.”
The Bears haven’t been in the playoffs since 2010 and haven’t had a winning season since 2012.
However, coach John Fox sees natural progression coming for the team based on changes made, and what he saw with Carolina and Denver in the second season there as coach.
“It’s like when I was a kid and we’d go on a trip and it seemed a whole lot longer on the way there than it did coming home,” Fox said. “And the reason is that you’ve seen it before, you’ve been there before.
“So I think that’s it’s just kind of human development. We added Jake Delhomme in Carolina and made a big jump. Granted, we added Peyton Manning (in Denver). But to me, we added a bunch of players. It’s not just the quarterback. I think we’ve done similar things (here), and we’ll see where it takes us.”
–Wide receiver Alshon Jeffery refused to get into a long discussion about his contract situation. He reported to camp on time despite playing as a franchise free agent, at a time when some franchise free agents refuse to get involved until the season is about to begin.
“I mean, it wasn’t difficult. I’m here,” he said. “I’m playing football. I’ve got a contract. I’m blessed.”
–The plan was to get rookie pass rush linebacker Leonard Floyd to put on weight, but he reported for training camp at the same 240 pounds as during offseason work.
A stomach virus that took him out of the first practice didn’t help.
“They told me to go out and give it a shot today and then they shut me down,” Floyd said about his illness. “I really was begging them to let me go back out there. They told me to shut it down and shut it down tomorrow.”
–Another weighty issue facing the Bears was defensive end Akiem Hicks. He reported to camp at 336 pounds.
No one seemed to worried.
“He’s explosive and big,” Fox said after Day 1.”Those are the attributes that help when you match up. I’ve been very impressed.
“I think he came back in great shape. He made a few hustle plays today that caught my eye. I’ve still got to watch the film.”
