Bears coach John Fox said earlier this week that he doesn’t “think there are any givens” about Jay Cutler returning to the starting quarterback job once he’s recovered from the thumb injury that sidelined him in the team’s Week Three loss to the Cowboys.
Cutler took a step toward that recovery on Wednesday when he was a limited participant in the team’s first practice session of the week. Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times reports that Cutler was not wearing a brace on his thumb during the portion of the practice open to the media.
Cutler did some “light throwing” during that portion of the practice, but there won’t be any updates from Fox on Wednesday about the quarterback outlook for this weekend’s date with the Lions.
That’s not because Fox is being circumspect about such matters, although he usually is, but because Fox isn’t at the team’s facility because he’s home dealing with a case of the stomach flu. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio is filling in and said that there wouldn’t be any word on whether it will be Cutler or Brian Hoyer.