Jay Cutler – August 7, 2017
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Monday, August 7, 2017
QB Jay Cutler
(Head Coach Adam Gase said today that you did not come out of retirement to be on the sidelines. It is a two-fold question. What prompted you to come out of retirement and were there any guarantees by Gase that you would be the starter?) – “No guarantees. I just kind of come here to help and get back into football. We’ll kind of see how it goes. What was the other question?”
(What prompted you to forego your broadcasting career?) – “A situation like this just doesn’t come along very often. I know (Head Coach) Adam (Gase) very well. I’ve known him since 2006, the first year I came out. I know the system. You talk about a playoff team with a lot of really, really good football players (and) a lot of potential. It was one of those things where there weren’t a lot of opportunities or jobs out there if they would have came up, I would have taken; but this has got to be at the top of the list.”
(What kind of training have you been doing the past four months or so and how is your shoulder you had repaired?) – “It’s good. In December … By March I was cleared on that one. I’m a little bit behind these guys. They’ve been going through training camp and stuff like that. I’m not quite there yet, but it won’t take me long.”
(How hard was the decision to come back and play?) – “It was hard. It was definitely hard. Like you said, the last four months I’ve been in a different mode, a different mindset, getting ready for the FOX deal. I was really pretty good with where I was in my life. I was around the kids a lot and felt pretty content. I weighed back and forth on this. I’d probably say my wife, Kristin, probably talked me into it more than anybody else could.”
(What kind of playing shape are you in right now? How long do you think it’s going to take?) – “Well, the good thing is I play quarterback so I don’t really have to be in that great of cardiovascular shape. (laughter) But I’ll be fine. (Head Coach) Adam (Gase) knows kind of what I’ve been up to so we’ll figure it out along the way.”
(What is it about Head Coach Adam Gase that makes you guys click so much?) – “I think he’s really good. I think he’s really good at his job. He takes care of quarterbacks. If you kind of look at his track record of where he has been, even when I met him in Detroit, he was always learning and getting better – San Francisco, Denver – everywhere he’s been around quarterbacks, they’ve been successful.”
(Was it a bit of a whirlwind for you last week? All of a sudden you had one thought for how your life is going and then QB Ryan Tannehill is hurt and you get this phone call?) – “Yes, I think that’s the biggest thing you kind of have to process there is I think everyone probably in the room kind of forecasts what they’re going to be doing in a week from now, a couple weeks, a month, and you kind of have that in your mind about what’s going to happen. We’re going on vacation this week and then we start up the FOX thing and head to the preseason games. My son’s birthday is tomorrow. So there were things that you just kind of have planned in your life and to get something like this thrown (at you), it takes a little bit to kind of process and figure out what direction you want to go.”
(When Head Coach Adam Gase reached out, whether it was through text or a phone call, what was the message?) – “He asked me what kind of shape I was in. (laughter) We’ve kept in touch, just cordially. ‘How are the kids? How are things going?’ I’ve told him that I was good to go. It was very short, very brief. They didn’t know what the situation was going to be here. It kind of went from there.”
(So after you decided to work for FOX and before the Dolphins called, how often did you throw footballs around on a daily basis?) – “Well, we’ve got two boys so we’re always doing something. I would go down to Vandy and do some stuff down there. I was playing basketball in the mornings and there’s football camps there. You know, you’re around it. (Phone rings) You can answer it. (laughter) It’ll come back pretty quickly. I’m not worried about my arm or the throwing part. Getting used to these guys and how they get in and out of breaks and a little bit more detailed stuff, that’s some of the stuff we’re going to have to hit the fast-forward button on and get used to that.”
(Did you say your wife wanted you to play? She was pushing you to play?) – “Yes, I think she got tired of me around the house, you know it was a little different. (laughter) I think she saw it from a different lens and saw what kind of opportunity this was and she was all for it.”
(Did you kind of feel like you were back in your college days the way Head Coach Adam Gase was recruiting you?) – “I did, I did. It was kind of like a recruiting experience there for a little bit; but he gave me space, too. He knew … He gave me his spiel and I talked to some other people I’m close to and then he gave me a lot of space to decide what I wanted to decide.”
(Looking at this roster, how does it stack up amongst the other teams you’ve played against or with on paper?) – “It’s a young team I think mixed in with some really good vets. (It’s) a playoff team from last year. It’s got a lot of dudes. On the offensive side, you’ve got a lot of guys that can make some plays in the backfield, wide receiver, tight ends, offensive line – they lost Teddy (Larsen) last week, so that’s going to hurt a little bit; but it’s a very, very talented roster.”
(Do you go into this as strictly a one-year deal or are you coming into it as one year and we’ll see where this takes me?) – “I’m going into one day. (laughter) I’ve got a lot of things I’ve got to process and get used to. I was in one place for eight years, so this is going to be a little bit different. There’s going to be a transition period. I just want to get to this next meeting, figure out where the dinner room is, and then we’ll start learning the offense and learning some guys’ names.”
(Why did it work so well between you and Head Coach Adam Gase in 2015?) – “I think he does a really good job of putting quarterbacks in good positions. He knows his personnel. He knows defenses, how to attack them. I think he does a real good job of being consistent with the run and the pass and not getting too heavy on one or the other. He’s got a good feel. I think play calling is kind of an art form. It’s not for everybody and he’s got that feel.”
(What’s something specific that Head Coach Adam Gase told you all the time that resonates with you even right now as you stand here?) – “Adam talks a lot. (laughter) He talks a lot in the headset too. I don’t know. He’s always so supportive, though. I think that’s – as a quarterback – that’s what you know the most. He’s got your back. He’s going to support you through thick and thin and you’re always going to be in good spots.”
(What are your thoughts on coming into a situation where it’s not like they don’t have a quarterback? There is a guy that it’s been his team for a while.) – “It’s tough. I’ve been injured before. I know what that feeling is like at quarterback, to be hurt (and) not be able to help your team, and you kind of feel isolated a little bit like an outcast. It’s hard and I wish Ryan (Tannehill) the best through whatever decision he has to make and I’m sure he’s going to come back stronger.”
