Thread: Is Cutler Ready to Lead......................

Has Cutler had an attitude adjustment?

Enigmatic QB seems more engaged than ever

• Bears QB Jay Cutler speaks with the media Friday. (Phil Velasquez/ Tribune / July 29, 2011)

David Haugh's In the Wake of the News 3:08 p.m. CDT, July 30, 2011


BOURBONNAIS — Good for Jerry Angelo giving former Jets jetsam pass-rusher Vernon Gholston a chance to record his first NFL sack in a Bears uniform in his fourth season after he was the No. 6 overall selection of the 2008 NFL draft.

Applaud Angelo for taking a similar risk to rehabilitate the career of wide receiver Roy Williams, another first-round draft pick with Texas-sized talent but nearly as big of a disappointment with the Cowboys.


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But of all the players on the 2011 Bears Redemption Tour that opened this weekend on the campus of Olivet Nazarene, the one with the most at stake this season seems to recognize it.

Not that Jay Cutler ever would say so. But early actions suggest Cutler realizes, at 28, his sixth year in the NFL figures to define him more than any other.

Cutler reported to training camp Tuesday, before any other Bear after the NFL lockout. That is a better sign than his first tight spiral.

"I am excited about where we are now with this team and stuff,'' Cutler said. "I'm going to (submerge) myself in football and move from there.''

Reporting three days before necessary might just mean Cutler was even more bored than he usually looks. Or that Cutler likes training camp food and lumpy pillows. Or maybe he felt more comfortable focusing on football in the quiet of Kankakee County now that Cutler is done dodging paparazzi around Los Angeles.

As coach Lovie Smith bragged about the early arrival of his quarterback, I wondered if it also meant this: Cutler understands the need for him to show leadership exists now more than ever.

Friday night's first team meeting without Olin Kreutz only reinforced that. The Bears also traded Cutler's buddy Greg Olsen. An offensive line in flux might require name tags. Introductions before the first receivers' meeting might not be a bad idea.

A team full of offensive uncertainty badly needs Cutler to step out of his comfort zone and lead more obviously than he has. Cutler's career needs it worse.

It was ridiculous to question Cutler's toughness for sitting out the second half with a legitimate knee injury in the NFC championship game. But I understood why outsiders might have looked at Cutler appearing detached on the sideline and questioned his leadership skills. Even if Cutler stayed involved on the headset and in the game, given the stakes, seeing the starting quarterback so outwardly impassive was hard to understand — and harder to defend.

Fair or not, faces of the franchise need to show expression now and then. Enthusiasm can be contagious in an emotional game like football.

When you talk to people around the league and consider what has prevented Cutler from being a Top 10 quarterback, it's not talent. It's not tangible. It's intangible.

It's leadership.

That's not necessarily a criticism as much as a critique — there's a difference. This isn't another breakdown of Cutler's body language. It's grasping the reality that the way Cutler behaves sets a tone with whatever football company he keeps. That never will be truer than with this Bears team.

He's not a new guy anymore and this isn't a new offense.

When the Titans signed free-agent quarterback Matthew Hasselbeck, reports raved about the type of positive impact Hasselbeck would have on rookie quarterback Jake Locker and young teammates. We seldom hear those kind of things said about Cutler.

Might that be changing?

Several teammates went out of their way to praise Cutler for his role in organizing workouts during the 135-day NFL lockout. Not only was Cutler the first player to arrive for training camp but he did so looking leaner and in the best shape of his career.

When Cutler spoke to the assembled media for the first time since losing to the Packers last January, he connected. He also sounded committed, more engaged than aloof. He used "we'' more than "I'' without a hint of bitterness. But Cutler made clearest that falling one game short of the Super Bowl, in a loss in which he played so poorly, still stung.

I asked Smith if he also noticed Cutler had a sharper edge because of everything he dealt with after the last game. I got the impression this was the touchiest topic for Smith since he fired Ron Rivera in 2007.

"No, and you know, we need to move past even those questions on Jay,'' Smith snapped. "No, not at all. Jay is in training camp, just like every other quarterback in the league, trying to lead his team to a championship. … As far as the questions about Jay, we've cut all those off. They shouldn't even come up any more about all of that stuff.''

All that stuff doesn't matter. What matters is what Smith said about Cutler trying to "lead his team.''

More than ever, the Bears are Cutler's team. And Cutler is off to the right start leading it.

DHaugh@tribune.com

Twitter @DavidHaugh


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