Jay Cutler enjoyed a lukewarm welcome during his first home game in Miami. Despite leading the Dolphins past Tennessee to their second win of the season, the quarterback threw for fewer than 100 yards and earned boos and calls for his benching from Fins fans populating Hard Rock Stadium last Sunday.
Cutler told reporters after the game that the fan's reaction didn't phase him -- he's very used to it -- but his top wideout, Jarvis Landry, couldn't say the same thing.
"We don't buy into the fans of who they want to play quarterback," Landry said Thursday, per the Miami Herald. "If they want to change the players, we can't buy into all that. I believe it's disrespectful. A man [Cutler] who comes out and works his [butt] off.
"For people to not understand what's really going on -- or to not have even touched the field before -- to say we want somebody else to be playing, and don't understand the situation or know what's going on. They just want to be on Twitter or just want to start a damn chant. And it's embarrassing as a player to have fans like that. It's embarrassing. ... He's our quarterback. We stand by him regardless."
If Miami coach Adam Gase were to bench Cutler, his former pupil in Chicago and coveted training camp acquisition, his replacement would be Matt Moore, who filled in when Ryan Tannehill was injured for the first time last season.
In the five games Moore played, including Miami's postseason loss, the veteran completed 68.3 percent of his passes, threw nine touchdowns to four picks and averaged 8.2 yards per attempt.
Through four games this year, and with roughly the same roster, Cutler has completed 62.6 percent of his passes, thrown three touchdowns to three picks and tallied just 5.4 yards per attempt.
Gase has said definitively that he will not bench Cutler, and won't be swayed by the opinion of the masses, telling reporters Sunday, "They chanted for [Moore] last year, too. I'll make the decision on the quarterback. We're not going to take public polls."
Cutler has the support of his play-caller and his most skilled wide receiver, but not the fans. That's good enough, for now.
