Jay Feely: Bears’ Jay Cutler will never be a leader

Dec 28, 2014; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler (6) warms up before the game against the Minnesota Vikings at TCF Bank Stadium. The Minnesota Vikings win 13-9. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 28, 2014; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler (6) warms up before the game against the Minnesota Vikings at TCF Bank Stadium. The Minnesota Vikings win 13-9. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

Jay Feely ripped Chicago Bears starting quarterback Jay Cutler, and said that he doesn’t think Cutler will ever be a leader.

Jay Cutler and the Chicago Bears are coming off of a nightmare season, and the offseason has already been very good for them. They were able to upgrade their head coach from Marc Trestman to John Fox, and also brought in Vic Fangio to replace Mel Tucker. Next up was the offensive coordinator position, and they brought in former Denver Broncos’ offensive coordinator Adam Gase.

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Needless to say, those coaching upgrades are going to be huge for the Bears as they look to turn things back around and get into the playoffs next season.

One of the biggest issues was the offense this past year, and Cutler was unable to get anything going all year-long. He was actually benched in Week 16 for Jimmy Clausen, but finished the year as the starter when Clausen went down with a concussion. Cutler has a lot of work to do, and a lot of critics that don’t think he will ever become a top caliber starting quarterback.

Jay Feely is one of those critics after playing with the Bears this season for a few weeks. He was brought in when Robbie Gould went down with an injury. Feely made it very well-known that he doesn’t think Cutler can ever become a leader for the Bears.

“That’s not who he is. You’re going to have a vacuum there,” Feely said. “So you have to know that as a general manager or a head coach, ‘Hey, we’re not going to have that leadership from this position, so we’ve really got to have other guys that are going to step up and are going to be our verbal leaders.’”

Those types of comments from a teammate are never easy to swallow. Despite Feely’s thoughts on the matter, the new Bears’ coaching staff is going to give him a better opportunity to play his game than he has ever gotten. The Bears are going to be a much more balanced football team, while also being coached more aggressively and obviously better.

Cutler may never end up being one of the top-five quarterbacks in the NFL, but he has a good enough arm to lead a very dangerous offensive attack with the talent that they have surrounded him with.

It is going to be a very exciting season for the Bears and their fans. There is a chance that they still won’t be legitimate contenders in the NFC, but the coaching upgrades certainly give them a better chance.

H/T Pro Football Talk

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