The Chicago Bears have benched quarterback Jay Cutler and plan to start Jimmy Clausen against the Detroit Lions on Sunday, a person with knowledge of the situation confirmed Wednesday evening. ESPN first reported the news.
The move, which comes in the death throes of a season in ruins, is a seismic shift for an organization that has exalted Cutler as its franchise quarterback.
In January, general manager Phil Emery signed Cutler to a new seven-year, $126.7 million that includes $54 million guaranteed.
Cutler, however, leads the NFL with 24 turnovers. His inconsistency is a big reason why the Bears are 5-9 and their offense failed to match expectations despite returning all 11 starters from a unit that ranked third in the NFL in yards per play during coach Marc Trestman’s debut campaign in 2013.
Trestman for weeks has defended Cutler’s status as the starting quarterback. However, he did not directly address the issue during his Wednesday press conference when he was asked about ESPN analyst Jon Gruden’s assertion that Cutler should be benched.
“Jon certainly has a right to his opinion, and each and every week we go through our evaluations all the way around, and as I said, Jon’s got a right to his opinion,” Trestman said.
The embattled coach did say, though, that it’s “evident” he hasn’t gotten the best out of Cutler.
“Am I working at it? Yes,” Trestman said. “We’ve seen moments, but we haven’t done it on a consistent basis. I can’t hide from that. I haven’t been able, and we haven’t been able to do the things that we want to get done. We’re working towards that.
“But the answer to that is obvious. I’m trying to give you the most truthful answer, and that is we’ve seen moments of it, but it’s not where we need to go. It’s not where we need to be. But it’s not all about Jay. It’s about our entire offense, working together to get it done.”
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