Jay Cutler – October 4, 2017
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Wednesday, October 4, 2017
QB Jay Cutler
(The offense is struggling to score touchdowns…) – “That’s an understatement.”
(Do you wrestle with that or are you kind of business-like about it and kind of feel that it will come around soon?) – “I think today we were a little bit more positive and energetic and back to work. The last few days, you go through a lot of questions of what if we did this, what if we did that, and try to figure out answers to questions that you might not know. Now Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, we’ve just got to get back to business and try to get better each and every day. That’s the only thing we can do.”
(It seems like the Titans defense is going through some of the same things. What sort of opportunities do you see there looking at them?) – “I mean the way we’re playing offensively, I don’t think we can take anything for granted right now. We’ve got to worry about ourselves. It’s a really good front. They’ve got guys in the secondary that can make plays. Just like any other NFL team, if we flop it out there the way we have the last two games, they’re going to eat us up.”
(One of the positive plays from last week – I found one – was the zone read, a Jay Cutler’s zone read. Head Coach Adam Gase said ‘zone read always works.’) – “Well, in theory it does. I mean I think we got five or six (yards) out of it, so it’s an efficient play for us. I think that’s the biggest thing, first and second down be more efficient. Getting three, four or five yards (and) giving ourselves a chance on third down. We’ve had a lot of third-and-longs. The third-and-1 we did have, we didn’t convert that one, so that’s a missed opportunity for us. We’ve got to find ways to become a more efficient offense in everything we do.”
(Is there any sense of relief that comes from knowing you don’t have to travel this week? You finally have a home game.) – “Yes, I think it might be a little bit odd. We’ve got to put our suitcases away; but it should be good. Everyone’s a little bit more comfortable at home, that sense of security of being here. Hopefully it pays off for us.”
(Is there such a thing as lack of chemistry between yourself and your receivers or is it just lack of execution?) – “I mean you’re always battling against chemistry and knowing what your receivers are going to do. Being on the same page, that’s always a constant battle. That’s always a communication, a conversation you have with those guys; but if we don’t execute, we’re not even going to get to the chemistry part of it. We’ve got to execute, myself included. All 11 of us, we’ve got to figure it out.”
(Head Coach Adam Gase said that he feels he’s ‘wasted some good defensive performances’ the way the offense is play?) – “Yes, I think that’s fair.”
(How do you feel about that in terms of the effort level the defense is playing?) – “I mean I told them we can’t do any worse by the defense. We can’t put them in any more holes than we’ve put them in. I think we had six plays through the third quarter and nine plays after that. We weren’t helping them out at all, and they played well against a couple of really good quarterbacks. They went out there and they’ve played really good ball, so we’ve got to find a way to help them out.”
(I’m sure it’s no surprise to you that when the offense goes well, the quarterback gets a lot of credit. When it goes poorly, you’re going to get blamed. Are you insulated to the point where none of the criticism or the other stuff reaches you? Or do you see it out there?) – “I don’t see anything. I’m not on social media. Sorry I don’t read you guys’ stuff. (laughter) I mean I know what happens in this building. I know what we’re doing well and what we need to improve on. That’s offensively and personally. I know the temp and the pulse of this building. That’s kind of where it stops and starts.”
(The day after the game, Head Coach Adam Gase made it crystal clear that he has your back. Is that reassuring also?) – “Yes. That’s one of the reasons I came here. I knew that the quarterback position, he holds that relationship in high regard. You know he’s always going to have your back and he’s always going to do things game plan-wise and calling plays to help out the quarterback and the offensive line as much as possible. That’s never going to be a doubt or concern of mine.”
(You were seen throwing flat-footed quite a bit the other day. Is that a product of you trusting your arm or just not having a clean pocket?) – “A little bit of both. I think we’ve got to do some things upfront. I can help them out in the certain ways that I move. Like I said, it takes all 11 of us out there and that’s those five guys up front, me getting the ball out faster, me moving in certain situations. When it comes together, hopefully soon, we’ll clean up some things.”
(What’s your sort of general message to the offensive line knowing that you rely on them as much as the whole team relies on you?) – “Yes, they know that. They’re smart guys and they know when they play well; they know when they play bad. It’s important to them. They’re one of the first guys that help me up. They’re one of the first guys on the plane ride back asking me how I’m feeling, asking me how I’m feeling the next day. They take it personally. They’ve got a great o-line coach and (Head Coach) Adam (Gase) is doing everything possible to help them out. That group is one group I’m not that worried about. We’ll get that straightened away.”
(You said after the London game that there are, I don’t know if I’m quoting you accurately, different facets to the offense that maybe some people don’t understand. Based on what you know in your years in the league, are there things that you see that others don’t see on the outside?) – “I would think so. You wouldn’t agree with that? I would think so. I’ve been doing this for 12 years and the coaches in here have been doing it for … I mean some of the coaches have been doing it for double that. You guys don’t know what plays we’re running. You guys don’t know what (our) scheme is, what our protection is, what we’re trying to get done play in and play out. So on the outside it looks like all the walls are falling and we’re really bad and there’s no hope and no prayer for us; but in the building, we’re close. We’re right there. If we clean up a few things here, third down, we can be a competitive football team offensively.”
(When the opposing defense brings seven or eight players close to the line in the box area, how do you balance this desire to throw the ball down the field with one-on-one matchups and trying to keep the game honest knowing that how important the runs are too?) – “I mean that’s a question for (head Coach) Adam (Gase) because he calls the plays and he designs most of the offense. That’s something you can check with him on.”
(An obvious follow up. How much ability to change calls at the line do you have at this time in this offense?) – “We’ve got all kinds of stuff. I mean (Head Coach) Adam (Gase) has been around a while and worked with a lot of different quarterbacks. We’ve got straight audibles, we’ve got check with me’s, we’ve got run/pass options, we’ve got run-around options, we’ve got pass-pass options, we have some plays that are just call and run it. We’ve got it all. Obviously we’re not using it right though, or we need to execute better – one of the two.”
(My last one. I don’t think you’ve ever caught a pass in the NFL. Is that…?) – “That’s accurate and I’m kind of disappointed about that. (laughter)”
(There’s still time.) – “There is still time.”
(How much of a target were you in that Wildcat formation?) –- “Zero. (laughter) I don’t even think they knew I was out there. They told me that I created quite a buzz, but that’s what they told me to do. Sit there. Don’t get hit. Don’t touch anybody. Don’t move. I feel like I executed that one. (laughter)”
