The Chicago Bears see Jay Cutler for what he is.
"We're a 3-5 team and he's a 3-5 quarterback right now," general manager Phil Emery told reporters Monday, adding: "We still have some things we have to clean up."
Facing the media on the heels of Sunday's embarrassing 51-23 loss to the Patriots, Emery sat beside coach Marc Trestman and characterized Cutler -- due $54 million in guaranteed money -- as a work in progress.
"Jay, like a lot of players in that position, has a little bit (of) a gunslinger personality, in terms of, 'I wanna be the guy to make the plays.' He trusts his arm," Emery said. "Those are habits. Habits are hard to improve."
Hired to correct those habits, Trestman praised Cutler for "functioning very well from play to play" and providing "leadership at a premium" in the locker room. Trestman vaguely acknowledged that Cutler must improve aspects of his performance and promised to "negate some of the negatives."
We'd point to ball control. Only six quarterbacks have thrown more picks than Cutler's eight, while only one passer has more fumbles than Cutler's three. Still, Pro Football Focus ranks him as this season's third-best signal-caller under pressure, which makes sense considering his willingness to stand in the pocket and take a hit.
Cutler has always boasted a tantalizing skill set. The hope, though, was that Trestman's quarterback whispering would make the most of the passer's strong arm while curbing some of Cutler's technical glitches and mental meltdowns.
"Have I seen improvement the last two years? Yes I have," Emery said. "Because I know where we were at two years ago, and I know how many sacks he took, how much pressure and hits that he played through. ... I think he's bought all the way in, in terms of, here's what important, here's the concepts we're trying to accomplish."
Said Emery: "We still have some time to go, we still have some things we have to clean up."
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