Just got off the conference calls with Bears quarterback Jay Cutler and coach Lovie Smith. We're working on a Cutler story for Thursday's paper, but here are a couple of highlights from the conference calls:
. Cutler, who has thrown a league-high 18 interceptions, essentially agreed with former Colts coach and current NBC analyst Tony Dungy's assesment Sunday night that Cutler was overthrowing receivers against the Eagles because of the five interceptions he threw the week before against San Francisco. Dungy said for Cutler to get out of his current Funk he needs to trust his talent and not be afraid of throwing interceptions. Said Cutler: "That's easy to say, but the number of interceptions that have happened this year is definitely in the back of my mind. We know we have to protect the football and we can't put the defense in bad situations. To go out there and throw like I've always thrown, it's tough. It's something I've got to do, but to overcome all the interceptions and all the bad things that have happened offensively, it's definitely difficult to do." . Another popular criticism of Cutler's play involves his mechanics. Cutler never has been a conventional passer, but some have argued that his footwork and delivery are a major problem for him right now. Asked whether his mechanics are a problem, Cutler said, "No, not at all. Have you seen Brett throw lately?" Good one, although Favre has done just a tad or two more to earn the right to throw the ball any way he wants. . Smith said the usual stuff about turnovers and consistency. Then he stressed the need for patience, which we all know fans have none of. Said Lovie: "When you bring in a new player, it takes time to get it exactly the way you want it. That's where we are." . Smith said he has no regrets trading for Cutler. "No regrets at all, about anything," he said. "We are 10 games into it. Nothing has been decided this season. We are disappointed with where we are now, but there's still a lot of football left to go. I'm going to say that about our entire football team. We can still make this right and that's what we plan on doing." . I wondered if Lovie could afford to exercize the patience he preaches since NFL coaches tend to, you know, get fired. "You can't worry about stuff like that," Smith said. "I have a great job. Every day that I've been here, someone has wanted my job, so that doesn't bother me much at all. Things change quickly in the National Football League. I see them changing for us for the good quickly.
