LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Jay Cutler said Thursday that his 1-11 lifetime record against the Green Bay Packers hasn’t changed the way he’s prepared for Week 1.
“I feel like [my record against the Packers] makes you mad,” Cutler said with a smile to reporters.
“I mean, every year you start over. This year we've got a whole new group. We've got a lot of young guys; we've got a lot of new guys that don't understand. They haven't been in the rivalry as long as me and Matt Forte and Robbie Gould and some other guys. We'll catch them up and we're just going to treat it like we did the first game last year.”
Cutler has plenty of motivation to want a fresh start.
He hasn’t beaten the Packers since 2010, the same season Green Bay defeated the Bears in the NFC Championship Game at Soldier Field.
Cutler has thrown 22 interceptions in 12 career starts against Green Bay, and his quarterback rating against the Packers in the regular season is 67.1.
But new offensive coordinator Adam Gase said he isn’t concerned about Cutler’s series numbers.
“I’d have to look at the entire game,” Gase said. “I know there’s only two guys that have records — the quarterback and the head coach. I mean, I’d have to look at the whole deal — offense, defense, special teams. And I know this: I don’t have enough time to comb through five years ago and worry about what happened in all three phases. We’re focused on what we’re doing right now with this offense, and whatever happened in the past is over.”
In fact, Gase praised Cutler on multiple occasions in the preseason and cited the 32-year old's efficiency running the offense as a major positive heading into the season opener.
“I felt like he was comfortable,” Gase said. “I felt like he did a great job communicating. He ran what we were doing, whether we were in the huddle, no-huddle, whatever we were doing, up-tempo, never seemed to be bothered by anything. There were a lot of guys that weren't on the same page with him sometimes, because, like I said, he's ahead of everybody else. That's going to happen at the quarterback spot. We just got to see how fast everybody gets caught up to him and just keep him growing as a quarterback.”
Even tight end Martellus Bennett, who’s been somewhat of an outspoken Cutler critic, believes the quarterback is in a good place physically and mentally.
“I've been confident with Jay, man,” Bennett said. “He throws me the ball a lot. I really like the way Jay has been doing things. And he's been focused on just getting guys lined up and doing his job and making sure he has the mike call, the linebacker blitzes. He has a whole lot on his plate back there.
“As long as we make it quarterback-friendly for him, he has all the ability in the world and I love playing with him and I'm excited to go out there with him this season. And I think we're going to light it up.”