Jay Cutler nearing return for Chicago Bears

After losing Brian Hoyer on Thursday, the Chicago Bears may actually be glad Jay Cutler is getting closer to full health.

The Chicago Bears dropped to 1-6 this season, and failed to score an offensive touchdown, with a 26-10 loss to the Green Bay Packers Thursday night. Quarterback Brian Hoyer suffered a broken left arm in the second quarter of the game, so third-stringer Matt Barkley saw a lot of action with the expected results (6-for-15, 81 yards, two interceptions). Speaking after the game, in light of Hoyer’s injury, Bears’ head coach John Fox spoke about the status of quarterback Jay Cutler.

"“When he’s cleared medically, we’ll have him out there,” Fox said postgame. “When exactly that’s going to be, I can’t answer that. He’s getting closer.”"

Cutler has been out since suffering a right thumb injury in Week 2 against the Philadelphia Eagles, which opened the door for Hoyer to start and post four straight 300-yard games. Cutler has not appeared to be very close to playing, since he was listed as doubtful for Thursday night, and Fox had previously insinuated Hoyer would keep the starting job. But that has obviously changed now, and the Bears have the longest possible time between consecutive games with a Monday night Halloween game against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 8.

The Bears will probably have to sign a quarterback no matter what, if only for depth purposes to remove any realistic chance Barkley would have to play again. If Cutler’s status remains iffy well into next week, the situation will become even more dire with a looming matchup against a tough Vikings’ defense.

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The Bears are surely headed toward a top pick in the 2017 NFL draft, so it frankly doesn’t matter who is under center. But Cutler theoretically gives them a better chance to be competitive, and his looming return is actually good news considering the other options that are available.