Jay Cutler on report he has lost locker room: 'Could be a made-up source'
The Bears quarterback doesn't buy into the reports out there
After a horrific performance against the Buccaneers in Week 10, Bears quarterback Jay Cutler came under heavy scrutiny because of how poorly he played. According to a report, he lost the majority of Chicago's locker room.
After the game, Cutler didn't have a whole lot to say about the Bears issues on the field or in the locker room. But asked this week about the specific report, Cutler flat out called into question the use of anonymous sources in the report.
"Unnamed source, I'm guessing?" Cutler asked Thursday when queried about the report. "The source could be a lot of people. It could be a made-up source. It could actually be guys in there. If people actually start putting their names on it, we can have a discussion about it.
"The game before [versus Minnesota in Week 8] was the opposite end of the spectrum. Whenever you lose we all know what this position entails and when you do have a performance like that as a quarterback you're going to get some of that stuff. I don't feel like the locker room has ever [given up on me]. I've never felt like that in the locker room with those guys."
There are a couple things to unpack here.
One, Cutler's got a fair point about people putting their name on these things. If someone believes Cutler's lost the locker room, say it out loud. And it's not execs or personnel people -- Mike Freeman of Bleacher/Report said it was two Bears players telling him Cutler had lost the locker room.
Texted with two Bears players about Jay Cutler.
— mike freeman (@mikefreemanNFL) November 14, 2016
Oh my.
Main thing they said: most of locker room has given up on Cutler.
But those guys aren't going to put their names on a report criticizing the quarterback, even in a lost season.
The other issue is that Cutler did, in fact, play really well two weeks before. He was lights out against the Vikings in a shocking Bears win on "Monday Night Football" in Week 9. But he looked absolutely lost just six days later.
His offensive coordinator Dowell Loggins said he "didn't see that in his preparation," referring to Cutler not giving it his all before the game against the Bucs.
Loggins also added a good point -- Cutler's the quarterback. When a team stinks, he's going to get criticism dumped on him from all corners.
"It's all of us. We win and lose together. He was the same guy who we were praising against Minnesota. And obviously he didn't play as well as we'd have liked," Loggins said. "I didn't coach as well as I would like to. And the staff. No one. When you lose like that, no one plays well enough. No one does their job. Ultimately, the responsibility falls ... the burden ... it's a heavy burden to wear the crown. Jay's the quarterback.
"So it falls on him. It's nothing new. He can take the responsibility. So we've moved forward and we're getting ready for the next one."
The real dagger of the Bucs game was Chicago could have moved to 3-6 with a win. That's not good, per se, but it would actually put them in contention in the sad NFC North.
Instead, the Bears are probably just trying to piece together a couple of wins so people can keep their jobs this offseason. When the ship starts sinking, everyone is quick to point fingers.
















