It’s too early to tell what time, if any, Jay Cutler will miss, but Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith is optimistic his starting quarterback will play Sunday at Carolina.
Cutler suffered what has been described as a mild concussion in the Bears’ 17-3 loss to the New York Giants on Sunday night at New Meadowlands Stadium. Cutler was knocked out of the game after suffering an NFL record nine sacks in the first half. His helmet was knocked into the turf when he was slung down by defensive back Aaron Ross just before halftime.
“It seems like he's in pretty good shape right now,” Smith said. “There are no visual signs or anything that I can tell. That's why I try not to be the doctor. I leave it to our other people. But he seems like he's OK today.”
Cutler will have to pass the examination of a team doctor and an independent physician before he can return to practice.
The Bears are going to have to evaluate what they are doing. The patchwork offensive line – left tackle Chris Williams has been sidelined for the last two weeks – had questions through the first three weeks when the Bears went 3-0. Now, guards Roberto Garza and Lance Louis are both dealing with knee injuries.
Despite not being able to effectively execute his playbook, coordinator Mike Martz was stubborn and the Bears failed miserably. The 10 sacks allowed in the game (backup Todd Collins was sacked once before being KO’d with a neck stinger) matched the most ever for a Martz-directed offense. The Bears now lead the NFL with 18 sacks allowed, putting them on pace for 72.
“Believe it or not I was at the game also,” Smith said when the subject of sacks was continually brought up in his press conference this afternoon. “All right. And b we're working to correct that. It happened one time. It's no more than that. We'll correct the things that we can of course and we have some different options to go with and we'll play better this week.”
The only real options the Bears have are to get Williams back in action. Otherwise, they can turn to other unproven players. The biggest adjustment might have to be made by Martz.
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