By DAVID HAUGH
By DAVID HAUGH
Tribune News Service
In a stunning act of either ignorance or defiance — perhaps both — Bears coach Marc Trestman benched quarterback Jay Cutler in favor of backup Jimmy Clausen.
More than just a change on the depth chart, the quarterback switch figures to rattle a regime at Halas Hall. The 35,000-foot view: The Bears just presaged the end of the Cutler Era. But other eras should end first.
The latest screaming headline in a season full of them came Wednesday, courtesy of ESPN, five hours after Trestman misled local media when answering a question about benching Cutler. File Clausen-for-Cutler under Too Little, Too Late in the giant drawer cataloging Trestman’s incompetence as an NFL head coach.
Mark the decision as the point of no return for not only Cutler, but also Trestman and general manager Phil Emery — the executive who guaranteed $54 million of McCaskey money in a seven-year contract extension last January rather than apply the franchise tag. After the Bears inevitably fire Trestman and Emery because it’s the right thing to do, they can eat the $15.5 million Cutler is owed in 2015 and either release or trade the 31-year-old quarterback who just was labeled as good as gone. All three failed experiments need to go away now.
It was suggested perhaps the Bears benched Cutler to ensure he will be healthy enough to trade, but why would Trestman or Emery plan for a future unlikely to include them? And the next time McCaskey ownership intervenes in a depth-chart decision will be the first.
Starting Clausen against the Lions accomplishes nothing other than make everyone wonder who decided after nine losses to hold Cutler accountable for leading the league in turnovers. Had Trestman and his staff not coddled Cutler from day one and coached him like an elite quarterback, he more likely would have become one.
At least Trestman had the good sense to acknowledge his failures in fixing Cutler at the same news conference in which he concealed the demotion he shared with the quarterbacks earlier in the day. Trestman sounded like a beaten man, which suggests he isn’t as oblivious as his podium appearances make him seem.
If Trestman indeed is paying attention, he heard Emery distance himself Monday night from Trestman’s inaction on assistant coach Aaron Kromer after Kromer tearfully apologized for being the anonymous source ripping Cutler to NFL Network reporter Ian Rapoport. Can’t wait to read NFL.com to see what Kromer thinks of all this.
Two days after Emery raised questions about Trestman’s judgment, this decision looks like Trestman’s middle finger to Chicago, presenting Cutler as a scapegoat and reminding Emery that he couldn’t win with his $126.7 million quarterback. When Emery wondered aloud on WBBM-AM 780 about Trestman’s handling of Kromer, he aligned himself with Cutler. Trestman benching Cutler — the boldest move in a tenure marked by timidity — further isolates him and identifies the self-preservationist in every coach. This resembles a high-stakes example of CYA in the NFL.
The surprise benching coming so soon after Cutler’s worst performance of the year against the Saints — during which ESPN analyst Jon Gruden, Trestman’s former boss, criticized Cutler more than any other quarterback this season — created an interesting question: Did Trestman’s pregame input affect Gruden’s prime-time opinion? It was fair to speculate in this season of melodrama whether Trestman privately influenced Gruden by venting about Cutler’s inconsistency, much the same way Kromer did to Rapoport.
Don’t expect a mutinous response Thursday from Cutler’s teammates. In retrospect, the silence from Bears players in defense of Cutler after the Kromer episode was deafening. More players spoke of forgiving Kromer than stood up for the starting quarterback who was stabbed in the back by his offensive coordinator. How loud would the roar be from Packers players if an assistant dissed Aaron Rodgers? A leader with no followers makes for a lonely existence — the story of Cutler’s career.
Speaking of the Packers, they should be perturbed by Trestman’s tinkering. And the Lions, tied at 10-4 atop the NFC North, likely roared in approval.
As bad as Cutler has been, he traditionally plays well against the Lions. In 12 career games, he has completed 62 percent of his passes for 2,669 yards — more than against any other opponent — with 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
Warts and all, a struggling Cutler still offers more realistic hope for victory than a quarterback who hasn’t started since Jan. 2, 2011. As a starting quarterback, Clausen makes a fine backup.
Maybe, as a parting shot, Trestman simply sought to prove his scheme can bring out the best in paint-by-number system quarterbacks such as Clausen and Josh McCown. Whatever the reason, playing Clausen threatens the integrity of the division race as much as this whole sordid mess further damages the credibility of a disgraced franchise.