Sure, plenty of Jay Cutler’s 148 sacks during his time in Chicago have arisen from less-than-stellar blocking. But Cutler could have helped himself by getting rid of the ball more quickly.
New coach Marc Trestman hopes to make that happen.
As explained by Jeff Dickerson of ESPNChicago.com, Trestman has been using a “verbal running clock” (which may or may not have included “Mississippis”) whenever Cutler and the team’s other quarterbacks take reps in 11-on-11 or seven-on-seven drills.
“I just want them to have a sense of urgency up there making the calls, assessing the defense, those types of things,” Trestman said, via Dickerson. “We’ll have a clock in training camp so it will be easier on the voice. But I want them to get to the line of scrimmage. It’s like any other quarterback in the league, time is of the essence. We’ve got a lot of work to do before the snap. It’s the same everywhere. We just want to make sure we have that sense of urgency with every single play.”
Quarterbacks coach Matt Cavanaugh was more candid. Which could get him bumped by Cutler, if Cavanaugh isn’t careful.
“One of the things we emphasized when we got here was that we wanted to protect the quarterback,” Cavanaugh said. “Protecting the quarterback isn’t just the line’s responsibility, or the protectors, it’s the quarterback’s responsibility too. He can’t hold onto the ball forever.”
While Cutler has said it takes three years to install a new offense, this seems to be the one aspect that he needs to figure out quickly, in more ways than one.