Jay Cutler – October 18, 2017
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Wednesday, October 18, 2017
QB Jay Cutler
(The last time you guys played the Jets, it seemed like your identity was a little bit different, that you guys were thinking you were going to be an up-tempo, high-scoring offense. Now it seems like you’re a defense-led team is that accurate?) – “You are who you are. What we put on tape is kind of who we are. That’s how it has been the last four or five games.”
(Do you mind that or is this a case that it’s all about winning?) – “You try to win games, but at the same point, you try to get better. Offensively, we’re trying to get better. Defensively, they’re trying to get better. We’re all working for the same goal.”
(It may be an unfair rap, but some say you don’t show enough emotion at times. You did not lack in emotion on Sunday. Was that something that was surprising to yourself that you got caught in the moment like that, because you were pretty fiery out there?) – “No, it has been on tape before. It’s not the first time. I try to stay as calm as possible for these guys, but there are going to become points throughout the season where you go the opposite way.”
(Was there a point in your career where you made a conscious decision that, “I need to stay level headed to be successful?”) – “No. I think as you get older you just kind of see things a little bit differently. You experience a lot that this league has to offer. The highs aren’t as high and the lows probably aren’t as low. You’ve just got to try to stay even and realize that it’s a long season, and you’re going to hit a lot of speed bumps along the way.”
(On the first down to WR Jarvis Landry, the impact of that play on the game was what to you?) – “We’ve got some talented football players in there. We’ve got some guys that have a lot of pride in what they’re doing. It’s very, very important to them, and he’s one of them. He’s a prime example. He wants the ball. He wants to make plays. He’s going to do anything possible for this team to win.”
(You’ve said before that you’re not far away sometimes. You got in a little groove in the third quarter as an offense. Do you think that might be a sign of things to come? Did you seen anything specific?) – “It could; but we’re going against a tough defense. These guys handed it to us last time. That game we just had, it’s in the rearview. We’ve got to keep concentrating on what we’re doing. We’re worrying about the Jets now. We’ll try to build on it, but at the same point, we’re got to turn the page.”
(Why was this offense able to score 20 points without C Mike Pouncey or WR DeVante Parker out there?) – “We did what we were supposed to do. We had a long drive there to open the half. The defense was giving us really good field position there and we executed the plays. I thought (Head Coach) Adam (Gase) did a great job of dialing stuff up in the second half, keeping them unbalanced on defense. We made some big plays, too.”
(Do you allow yourself to look around what’s going on the league? It seems like there’s a lot of teams basically 3-2, 3-3.) – “There’s a lot of parity. There are some teams that go out and blow it up one week and the next week they struggle. I think that’s more and more so the life in the NFL. Defenses are really good. They show a lot of different looks and make it as hard as possible on quarterbacks.”
(The last home game that you played – you the Dolphins – fans were kind of chanting against you. I’m wondering if that even crossed your mind after that afternoon ended because now you’re going back to that same place.) – “We won the game. We won this past week. We’ll be fine. If they want to chant, they can chant. We’ve got to give them a better product on offense to root for.”
(Head Coach Adam Gase talked about Jets Head Coach Todd Bowles being very creative on defense. What did the Jets do last time in particular that made it difficult?) – “You get in third-and-longs like we had against them and you’re going to be an uphill battle. They kind of blitzed us early – a lot of walk around, edge blitzes. I think they used their personnel really, really well, and it caused us some fits; and then from that point on, we were kind of uphill. I think we stayed in a lot of third-and-longs at that point. We’ve just got to stay manageable on first and second down and give ourselves a chance at a run-pass on third down.”
(I know everybody makes mistakes. You’ve had maybe 10 dropped passes the last two weeks – both victories. Frustrating for you as a quarterback? How do you deal with that?) – “You’ve just got to go to the next play and just encourage these guys. I think we’ve got guys with really good hands that can make plays for us. Whether it’s lack of concentration or me putting the ball in a little bit different place for them, it’ll come. We’ll clean that stuff up along the way. If dropped passes are our biggest concern, I feel pretty good about that.”
(Do you ever talk to guys after things like that or do you kind of just leave them alone?) – “Most of the time I leave them alone. I might encourage them or something on the sideline. I don’t want these guys … They know when they mess up. They’re pros. I want them to move on and concentrate on the next play as fast as possible.”
(You’ve been here for about two months now. Have you seen any of South Florida aside from inside this building?) – “Nothing south of the stadium. That’s as far south as I’ve been. As far north as I’ve been, is about Sunrise (Boulevard), that street. That’s about as far north as I’ve been. It’s really this corridor east to west is my…”
(Have you made it east at all? Have you gone to the beach yet?) – “I live over there, that way. So I see it occasionally in the mornings when I’m coming in, if the sun is coming up.”
