“We have to get better, I have to get better,” Cutler said. “That’s just kind of the focus right now, finding every little thing I can get better at to try to win a ballgame.”

Cutler completed 22 of 37 passes for 272 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions, including one that ricocheted off the helmet of Kyle Long into the hands of Casey Hayward, who returned the pick 82 yards for a touchdown. Cutler also fumbled on a strip sack by Julius Peppers that led to Aaron Rodgers’ fourth touchdown pass of the second quarter.

In the club’s 55-14 loss to the Packers, Cutler produced his worst passer rating of the season (68.8).

Cutler has also committed 15 turnovers (10 interceptions and five fumbles) in nine games, leading to a total of 65 points by opponents. He is 8-12 under Trestman.

“Whenever you’re losing, your confidence is going to be a little bit lower,” Cutler said. “I think earlier in the week and throughout the week, you’ve got to gain confidence for the game. If you go into the game with low confidence, you don’t have a chance in this league. We probably, as an offense and as a whole, have to get some plays going, get some drives going, and we can build on that for sure.”

Cutler recognizes his responsibility in helping to lead that charge. Often criticized for negative body language, Cutler is even paying extra attention to that as well as communication and interaction with teammates in his search for ways to help the Bears dig out of their current rut.

“You have to look at everything,” Cutler said. “You have to go with a fine-tooth comb and just nitpick on every little detail. Nothing is too small, nothing can be overlooked. The finest little step, how you interact with your teammates, communicating more during the week so that there aren’t any miscommunications. Finding energy on Wednesday when everyone’s still a little down and trying to go out and have a good practice. You have to do all those little things to try to dig yourself out.”

Offensive coordinator Aaron Kromer thinks the Bears need to start slow and gain momentum one play at a time.

“Success is going to breed success, and failure is going to breed failure,” Kromer said. “What we have to do is we have to have a good play. We have to have a good block. We have to have a good play, then another good play, then a good drive, then a touchdown drive, then do it again.”

Cutler agreed and recognizes his responsibility in the team’s current predicament brought about by his turnovers and inconsistency. Cutler said “the only way to remedy” the negative criticism he’s receiving is to win.

Cutler’s sense of accountability toward teammates, he said, helps him to keep fighting through what’s been a difficult season thus far.

“You know, I think most of the guys in the locker room, if not all the guys, like the position they’re in, like their teammates, love football, and that’s what kind of propels you through it,” Cutler said. “I love playing with the guys in my huddle. So that’s what gets me through it; not letting those guys down, and each day coming to work and knowing they’re doing everything possible for us trying to win a ballgame. So I need to do the same.”

The post Cutler admits he, Bears ‘have to get better’ appeared first on IdealCapper.

“He didn’t play well enough yesterday, and we didn’t play well enough,” Trestman said. “I’m certain he’d take accountability for that. But it’s very clear he did not play well enough yesterday. We can’t sugarcoat that. At the same time, we didn’t play collectively well enough as a team.”

Cutler completed 22 of 37 passes for 272 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions, including one that ricocheted off the helmet of Kyle Long into the hands of Casey Hayward, who returned the pick 82 yards for a touchdown. Cutler also coughed the ball up on a strip sack by Julius Peppers that led to Aaron Rodgers’ fourth touchdown pass of the second quarter.

Cutler finished the game with a passer rating of 68.8, his worst of the season. He has thrown 22 interceptions in 12 career games against the Packers and is 1-11 against them.

Even Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker took to Twitter to comment on Cutler’s poor play.

The post Bears coach says Cutler must ‘play better’ appeared first on IdealCapper.

Cutler, who was set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason, signed a seven-year contract with the team, general manager Phil Emery announced Thursday.

Although financial terms were not released, Cutler’s deal is expected to eclipse the $17.6 million average the Detroit Lions gave Matthew Stafford in July. It also includes at least $50 million in guaranteed money.

Cutler isn’t worried about his critics panning the deal.

“Anything that would have happened, [anywhere] I would’ve went, there’s always positives and negatives,” Cutler said. “There’s always critics. Coming off an 8-8 season, we’re not happy with how it ended. But I think everyone in this building is really excited about the direction we’re going.

“Moving forward, there’s definitely gonna be people saying that this was the wrong move. That’s fine. That’s their opinion. The people in this building will stick together, and we’ll keep going in the direction that we think is right.”

In explaining the thought process behind locking up Cutler for the long term, Emery discussed the quarterback’s growth in 2013, a season the general manager described as his best.

“He’s a demonstrated winner with the Chicago Bears,” Emery said. “He can be a key player in terms of being the reason you win.”

Emery pointed to Cutler’s leadership during a difficult 2013 campaign, in addition to his improvement and display of toughness.

“Very excited to have Jay for the long term,” Emery said. “Cutler battled through the tough times.”

Also Thursday, the Bears re-signed cornerback Tim Jennings and guard Matt Slauson to four-year deals. The Bears have signed five players who were pending free agents in the aftermath of the team’s season: Cutler, Jennings, Slauson, kicker Robbie Gould and fullback Tony Fiammetta.

Cutler had a 103.8 passer rating in Sunday’s loss to the Green Bay Packers and concluded the season with a career-high rating of 89.2 while throwing for 2,621 yards, 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He has, however, been picked off 75 times since joining the Bears in 2009. According to ESPN Stats & Information, only Mark Sanchez and Ryan Fitzpatrick have thrown interceptions on a higher percentage of passes than Cutler’s 3.6 during that span.

He said Thursday that he never really was interested in becoming a free agent.

“We wanted to stay here,” Cutler said. “So it was going to have to come from the Bears not wanting me back for me to test” free agency.

Backup quarterback Josh McCown came on this year when Cutler was hurt and was the best QB in the league for a short stretch, but even he lauded the Bears’ move to lock up their franchise quarterback.

“Oh, I’m excited for him.” “One of the things, when I came back here to work alongside Jay and to back him up I knew that this was a contract for him. I wanted to help him to put himself in a position to do what he’s done and that’s to be here for the long haul and so I’m definitely very excited for him.”

One of the guys who tries to keep Cutler upright was in full support of the new deal.

“I couldn’t be more happy about having solidified somebody at that position,” guard Kyle Long said in Chicago. “Such a tremendous player and smart guy and that’s the guy who’s gonna take us where we need to go.”

Now that Cutler has his deal, he’s looking toward the future and possibly finishing his career with the Bears.

“I don’t think that part of it has set in yet. That will set in over the next month or so,” Cutler said. “I think we’re all kind of caught up in just the excitement of being here and looking towards the future. Like you said, to be here for possibly 10, 12 years, hopefully we can win some championships. That’s what it’s all about.

“If we look back 20 years from now and say, ‘Hey, I was here 12 years and we didn’t win a championship,’ we’re gonna be disappointed, I’m gonna be disappointed by it, and I think the rest of the organization is gonna be disappointed. So that’s what we have to start working towards starting tomorrow. I know the coaches will, I will and the rest of the players will.”

Before signing the deal, Cutler ranked 11th among quarterbacks in terms of average salary at $14,718,500. Players comparable to Cutler, such as Eli Manning, Philip Rivers, Tony Romo, Matt Ryan and Matt Schaub, were averaging more in salary, which means Cutler likely received a contract at the very least in line with those of his peers.

With Jennings, Emery discussed “rewarding excellence” for a veteran who took on the responsibilities of a No. 1 cornerback after Charles Tillman was lost for the season with a torn triceps. Jennings earned Pro Bowl recognition in 2012 and was recently named to the All-NFC North team. He has 13 interceptions over the past two seasons, second in the NFL to Seattle’s Richard Sherman. Jennings also forced two fumbles and recovered a third.

Jennings acknowledged he had some anxiety playing in the final year of his contract.

“I was lost in the dark, not knowing what was gonna happen,” he said. “I’ve been through this process before; didn’t work out well for me, and it kind of lingers [in] your mind. My agent did a great job of keeping me out of the loop.

“I just wanted to focus on football and help this team win as much as I could. I’m blessed for it to happen the way it did of me not having to see what was out there. There was no question if I had the opportunity to stay here and they wanted me, it was a no-brainer.”

Slauson joined the Bears this past spring on a one-year contract to bolster what had been a porous offensive line in recent years. Emery discussed Slauson’s physicality and leadership while also calling him a key part of the group’s dramatic improvement in 2013.

Chicago surrendered 30 sacks in 2013, 14 fewer than it did in 2012. With Slauson leading the way on inside runs, along with help from rookie Kyle Long, veteran running back Matt Forte finished with career highs in rushing yards (1,339) and rushing touchdowns (nine).

The post Jay Cutler receives 7-year deal appeared first on IdealCapper.

The Bears have already sent out letters asking various teams for permission to interview candidates to fill Smith’s job.

The Bears missed the playoffs for the fifth time in the last six seasons despite starting this season 7-1.

The Bears finished 10-6 but were denied a playoff spot when the Vikings beat the Packers on Sunday.

As reports of Smith’s ouster started to surface on Twitter, Bears quarterback Jay Cutler was doing “The Jay Cutler Show” on ESPN 1000 and had to leave early.

“I think it’s going to be a sad day at Halas Hall,” Cutler said. “I have a lot of respect for the guy. He’s made friends with a lot of the players. He’s a players’ coach. I think right now I’m a little surprised, a little sad. Wish I could have done more offensively to help him out.”

The 54-year-old Smith, who led the Bears to the Super Bowl after the 2006 season, was 81-63 over eight regular seasons and was 3-3 in the playoffs.

Smith was under contract through 2013, and new general manager Phil Emery did not engage the coach in contract talks on an extension during the season.

Smith was particularly criticized for Chicago’s struggles on offense. Despite have a Pro Bowl receiver in Brandon Marshall and solid players in Cutler and running back Matt Forte, the Bears ranked 28th in total offense. Smith was a defensive coach, but Cutler wouldn’t say if he would prefer an offensive-minded coach to replace Smith.

“I’ve had both,” Cutler said. “There’s pluses and minuses to argue each case. I’m not going to give a preference on what I want, what I don’t want because I don’t really know at this point. I trust Phil and management and George (McCaskey) and those guys to make the best call. They’re going to get the best possible head coach and assistant coaches and coordinators as they can. So you’ve just got to trust in that.”

Smith also struggled to beat Green Bay. The Bears have lost eight of their last nine against the Packers and six straight.

The other big issue was the Bears’ poor finishes under Smith. Chicago lost seven straight December games since 2010 before snapping its skid with a Week 16 victory over the Cardinals. During Smith’s nine seasons, the Bears were 17-19 in December.

The post Bears fire Lovie Smith appeared first on IdealCapper.