Jimmy Clausen days until Chicago Bears Season Opener

Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

We had so much fun doing our Countdown to Kickoff series last season that we decided to do it again. In case you’re new to the series, we’ll do a roster preview as we count down the days until the Chicago Bears September 7th season opener against the Buffalo Bills.

During the off season the Bears gave every indication they were going to go into 2014 with Jordan Palmer as their back up QB.  Then right before OTA’s were to begin, the  announced the signing of ex-Panthers, Jimmy Clausen.  Clausen, who had been the Panthers second round pick in 2010, has not seen any action since then.

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Prior to arriving at Carolina, Clausen had played college football at Notre Dame where he had a checkered career and two off the field incidents.  He was put into action in 2010, where he started 10 of 13 games.  His record was 1-9 , 52% completion  and 3 TD’s with 9 interceptions.  In 2011, the Panthers drafted Cam Newton and signed Derek Anderson as Newton’s backup, relegating Jimmy to third string.

Many people believed the biggest detriment to Clausen’s career in the NFL has been his attitude.  He is known to be a tough player and one that some might say has a chip on his shoulder.  Regardless, after two seasons of not playing in Carolina he was waived. August 2013.  Many believed his playing days were over as he went unsigned during the Free Agency period. Then in June, the Bears signed him Clausen to a one year deal.

Clausen had history with Head Coach Marc Trestman. Trestman had been Jimmy’s mentor in preparing for the NFL draft.  It also appeared that Jay Cutler took to Clausen for their dialogue almost began immediately.  During OTA’s, Palmer was held out due to pectoral injury and that seemed to open the door for Clausen.  During  the pre season games, Clausen seemed to have zip on his passes, good command of the game plan and showed strong leadership.  Those attributes, were the edge in beating out Jordan Palmer to be Cutler’s back up.

The question now going forward is, does Clausen have the maturity and skills to be developed into Cutler’s replacement?

Be on the lookout for our Countdown to Kickoff series as we continue to work our way to the season opener on September 7th. We’re 10 days from kickoff.  Are you ready???