Trestman has plans to handle Cutler’s emotions

Rob Grabowski-USA TODAY Sports

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before…

Jay Cutler is a cry baby. He whines too much. He lets his emotions get the best of him, and he quits on his team.

Marc Trestman isn’t buying it.

Since the Bears traded for Cutler in April of 2009 the entire city of Chicago and every sports reporter in the land became a body language and facial expression expert. It seemed like everyone and their mother were analyzing Cutler’s actions on the sidelines and during his press conferences and most were coming to the conclusion that Cutler was immature and not fit to quarterback for the founding NFL franchise.

When asked about Cutler’s demeanor and how he would handle the situation if (see: when) Cutler blew up at a teammate/coach/ball boy/someone’s mother/etc, new Head Coach Marc Trestman had this to say:

"“One thing with any of our players, we know they’re working hard,”… “We know they’re committed to the game. We know that. I think his demeanor, because he is the quarterback, is critically important. I think there’s going to be moments like that, that’s just part of who he is and I’m not going to take that away from him. From my standpoint, I don’t think you’re going to see somebody firing back. I’m going to let him wear himself out, get it off his chest, tell him to go back and play the next play. At the end of the day, I know that when a player gets that way, that’s not really who he is. It’s an emotional game, and guys are going to lose it for a minute. The most important thing is to get back to move on to the next situation. That’s what I hope to do is to, just be there to help him get on to the next play, the next quarter, the next game, whatever it might be. That’s part of my job to help him do that.”"

Trestman knows that Cutler is human and it is in his demeanor to get pretty worked up to the point of tempers flaring. It’s going to happen and Trestman is going to do what many good coaches do with a star player who is prone to show his emotions on his sleeve; let him be frustrated and get his emotion out and then move on. That has been Cutler’s M.O. (method of operation) throughout his career, and it’s probably not going to change any time soon.

Jay Cutler is who he is and don’t care what anybody else thinks.

I like Cutler. I see a guy who comes off as being closed off to some people. He is not always nice (especially to reporters). I also see fire, passion, talent and yes, leadership. Most of his detractors don’t see him everyday in the locker room, in meetings or casual interaction with his teammates. His teammates seem to respect and support him; that’s a big deal.

I like the way Trestman is handling this as well. I’m sure the two have talked about staying calm and level-headed regardless of the situation; that is something I would do with all of my players; especially a guy like Cutler. Trestman is a guy who has an incredible attention to detail (he talks to his players about how to stand for the National Anthem and how to act after scoring a TD); I’m pretty confident Cutler’s demeanor has been discussed with the QB.

I would be willing to bet that we won’t be seeing many Cutler outbursts this season; if nothing else, I don’t think he is going to be bumping any of his lineman for acting too nonchalant after giving up a sack.

During the Ditka show with Waddle and Silvy on Thursday on ESPN radio, former Chicago Bears Player/Head Coach/Legend/HOFer, Da Coach Mike Ditka was asked about what advice he had given to new HC Trestman. Ditka’s response was “Do it your way.”

That is just what the Coach is doing.