If the Bears held something more intense than a walkthrough practice on Wednesday, quarterback Jay Cutler would have been listed as a limited participant but since they held a limited practice overall that isn’t particularly telling.
Thursday, then, will be the big day for the Bears when it comes to figuring out whether or not Cutler’s torn groin has healed enough for him to make it back to the lineup this weekend. Cutler took a cautious approach to the question earlier this week and said that he’d need to practice before having much idea about his status, something coach Marc Trestman said is necessary from the team’s side of things as well.
“I don’t know where he’s at, really,” Trestman said, via the Chicago Tribune. “He has been running around, working out with the trainers. He spent a lot of time on the off day with Bobby [Slater, director of rehabilitation] working with bands and redirecting and things like that. It’ll be day to day, and we’ll see more tomorrow. We’re hopeful, but we’ve got to be reserved about it as well. We’ll see where things are in the morning when he’ll be evaluated.”
Trestman said that Josh McCown’s presence and play last weekend won’t have any bearing on the call they wind up making about Cutler, saying that Cutler will play if doctors say he can play at full speed. There’s a chance that he could get a green light at something less than full speed, however, and that would make for a more complicated decision that can’t really be separated from the way McCown handled the job over the last two weeks.