Lonestar
08-24-2009, 03:32 PM
Denver's Orton will also face his ex-team when Bears visit
CHICAGO -- Jay Cutler gave a glimpse Saturday of why he was a Pro Bowl quarterback last season, and how he can transform the Chicago Bears' offense by his mere presence.
He directed, he rolled out, he threw passes of varying distances and speeds with his strong arm, and one time -- on a play that must have made his coaches nervous -- took off on a 12-yard scramble.
All part of his first game with his new team at Soldier Field. He played only three series and the Bears scored on all three in a 17-3 exhibition win over the New York Giants.
"He made some great throws to our receivers. He was able to keep a drives going. He's an athlete. We're banking on him being able to make plays like that. It was good to see him take another step," Chicago coach Lovie Smith said.
Cutler, who left the Broncos in an acrimonious split with new Denver coach Josh McDaniels, will return to Denver next Sunday night for an exhibition game. It should be an interesting homecoming for Cutler. He'll face his former team that is now quarterbacked by an ex-Bear, Kyle Orton, who was in the trade that sent Cutler to Chicago.
There might be a few pregame handshakes and some casual conversation during warmups, but don't expect Alex Brown and the Bears' defense to take it easy on Orton.
"I'm not going to not rush him as hard because we played together," Brown said of Orton, now with the Broncos. "I'm trying to get him. He's the opposing quarterback.
"Before the game, if he wants to go eat, I'll go eat with him. After the game I'll say, 'How you doing? What's up? Hope you have a good year.' But during the game, it's football."
The Orton reunion, and Cutler's return to the city he demanded out of, make the Bears-Broncos showdown arguably the most intriguing exhibition of 2009.
Cutler's 8-for-13 passing performance for 121 yards on Saturday included a TD pass to Desmond Clark and a couple of nice hookups with his former Vanderbilt teammate Earl Bennett.
"He'll throw it across the field, anywhere, with his arm strength and mobility. You never know where the ball is coming from," said Devin Aromashodu, who made a 38-yard reception to set up the TD pass to Desmond Clark.
Cutler's night was made easier by the return of running back Matt Forte and tight end Greg Olsen, both of whom missed the opening loss to Buffalo, when Cutler was only 5 for 10. Forte, a rookie star last season, broke off a 32-yard touchdown run.
Still a relationship in progress is the one between Cutler and the guy who is supposed to be Chicago's go-to receiver, Devin Hester. They connected on two passes but missed on two others, one of which would have been a 91-yard TD pass after the speedy Hester slipped 15 yards behind the Giants' secondary.
But Cutler's pass was just out of the wide open Hester's reach. The Bears ended up driving for the TD anyhow, taking 10 plays to traverse the 92 yards.
"Me and Devin are still getting on the same page," Cutler said.
Cutler had to clear the air last week for a comment he made following the loss to Buffalo, when he appeared to suggest an interception he threw might not have been one had Hester gone up for the ball a little better.
With feelings patched up, the two nearly connected on the long TD Saturday night.
"We had a shot there, but I overthrew it a bit," Cutler said. "It's going to happen and we're going to miss plays out there. We're going to have miscommunications at times. We have to forget it and move on to the next play."
Speaking of moving on, that's what Cutler did after spending his first three seasons with the Broncos. He became disenchanted in Denver when he learned the team had talked about trading him for New England Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel.
AP-WS-08-23-09 1452EDT
BC-FBN--Broncos-Marshall Home, 1st Ld-Writethru,0604
Broncos leave Marshall behind on road trip
Eds: UPDATES with McDaniels' explanation, saying he expects Marshall at next practice, injuries. ADDS background.
By GREGG BELL
AP Sports Writer
SEATTLE (AP) -- Brandon Marshall's feud with the Broncos continued on Saturday, with the disgruntled wide receiver left back in Denver while the rest of the team lost a preseason game at Seattle.
"Everybody who was ready and able to play in this game was here. And everybody we deemed not ready and able stayed back home," Broncos first-year coach Josh McDaniels said late Saturday night after Denver's 27-13 loss.
The coach added he "absolutely" expected Marshall to participate when the Broncos return to practice Tuesday.
The team also left safety Brian Dawkins home. The 35-year-old Dawkins, who joined the Broncos after 13 seasons in Philadelphia, missed a week and a-half of training camp with a broken right hand that required surgery. He returned to the field a few days ago week and picked off a pass despite a cumbersome club on his hand.
Broncos rookie cornerback Alphonso Smith, a second-round pick for whom Denver traded a No. 1 pick in 2010 to Seattle to draft, left with an apparent injury to his right leg in the third quarter following a kickoff return. The Broncos said only that Smith had an injury to a "lower extremity."
Chris Simms replaced starting quarterback Kyle Orton midway through the third quarter and completed five of seven passes into the fourth period. Then impressive Seahawks rookie pass rusher Nick Reed got tangled up with a blocker and landed on Simms' left foot. Simms limped into the locker room with trainers. Rookie Tom Brandstater replaced him.
Marshall spent two days last week working almost exclusively with the scout team after saying he was nowhere near mastering the new offense.
He is upset with the Broncos over their refusal to redo his contract after consecutive 100-catch seasons or to trade him. He's also angry with their handling of his acquittal on battery charges last week.
Players were told by a staffer not to say they were happy for Marshall.
Marshall missed the preseason opener at San Francisco last week while attending his court case in Atlanta.
He boycotted the team's offseason workouts, at first to recover from March 31 hip surgery, and then in protest of his contract and what he felt was the team's misdiagnosis of his hip injury.
He pulled up lame with a hamstring injury three days into training camp and missed two weeks before returning to practice last Sunday.
His agent, Kennard McGuire, met with McDaniels this week at the team's headquarters, presumably to talk about renegotiating his contract. Neither McGuire or McDaniels would say whether a trade request was reissued this week on behalf of Marshall, however.
Coming off back-to-back 100-catch seasons, Marshall, who started in the Pro Bowl six months ago, has vastly outperformed his contract, which calls for him to make $2.2 million this year.
Now, he said he has "trust issues" with the Broncos over their handling of his acquittal.
http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2009/aug/24/pro-football-its-on-cutler-bronco-reunion-might/?partner=RSS
CHICAGO -- Jay Cutler gave a glimpse Saturday of why he was a Pro Bowl quarterback last season, and how he can transform the Chicago Bears' offense by his mere presence.
He directed, he rolled out, he threw passes of varying distances and speeds with his strong arm, and one time -- on a play that must have made his coaches nervous -- took off on a 12-yard scramble.
All part of his first game with his new team at Soldier Field. He played only three series and the Bears scored on all three in a 17-3 exhibition win over the New York Giants.
"He made some great throws to our receivers. He was able to keep a drives going. He's an athlete. We're banking on him being able to make plays like that. It was good to see him take another step," Chicago coach Lovie Smith said.
Cutler, who left the Broncos in an acrimonious split with new Denver coach Josh McDaniels, will return to Denver next Sunday night for an exhibition game. It should be an interesting homecoming for Cutler. He'll face his former team that is now quarterbacked by an ex-Bear, Kyle Orton, who was in the trade that sent Cutler to Chicago.
There might be a few pregame handshakes and some casual conversation during warmups, but don't expect Alex Brown and the Bears' defense to take it easy on Orton.
"I'm not going to not rush him as hard because we played together," Brown said of Orton, now with the Broncos. "I'm trying to get him. He's the opposing quarterback.
"Before the game, if he wants to go eat, I'll go eat with him. After the game I'll say, 'How you doing? What's up? Hope you have a good year.' But during the game, it's football."
The Orton reunion, and Cutler's return to the city he demanded out of, make the Bears-Broncos showdown arguably the most intriguing exhibition of 2009.
Cutler's 8-for-13 passing performance for 121 yards on Saturday included a TD pass to Desmond Clark and a couple of nice hookups with his former Vanderbilt teammate Earl Bennett.
"He'll throw it across the field, anywhere, with his arm strength and mobility. You never know where the ball is coming from," said Devin Aromashodu, who made a 38-yard reception to set up the TD pass to Desmond Clark.
Cutler's night was made easier by the return of running back Matt Forte and tight end Greg Olsen, both of whom missed the opening loss to Buffalo, when Cutler was only 5 for 10. Forte, a rookie star last season, broke off a 32-yard touchdown run.
Still a relationship in progress is the one between Cutler and the guy who is supposed to be Chicago's go-to receiver, Devin Hester. They connected on two passes but missed on two others, one of which would have been a 91-yard TD pass after the speedy Hester slipped 15 yards behind the Giants' secondary.
But Cutler's pass was just out of the wide open Hester's reach. The Bears ended up driving for the TD anyhow, taking 10 plays to traverse the 92 yards.
"Me and Devin are still getting on the same page," Cutler said.
Cutler had to clear the air last week for a comment he made following the loss to Buffalo, when he appeared to suggest an interception he threw might not have been one had Hester gone up for the ball a little better.
With feelings patched up, the two nearly connected on the long TD Saturday night.
"We had a shot there, but I overthrew it a bit," Cutler said. "It's going to happen and we're going to miss plays out there. We're going to have miscommunications at times. We have to forget it and move on to the next play."
Speaking of moving on, that's what Cutler did after spending his first three seasons with the Broncos. He became disenchanted in Denver when he learned the team had talked about trading him for New England Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel.
AP-WS-08-23-09 1452EDT
BC-FBN--Broncos-Marshall Home, 1st Ld-Writethru,0604
Broncos leave Marshall behind on road trip
Eds: UPDATES with McDaniels' explanation, saying he expects Marshall at next practice, injuries. ADDS background.
By GREGG BELL
AP Sports Writer
SEATTLE (AP) -- Brandon Marshall's feud with the Broncos continued on Saturday, with the disgruntled wide receiver left back in Denver while the rest of the team lost a preseason game at Seattle.
"Everybody who was ready and able to play in this game was here. And everybody we deemed not ready and able stayed back home," Broncos first-year coach Josh McDaniels said late Saturday night after Denver's 27-13 loss.
The coach added he "absolutely" expected Marshall to participate when the Broncos return to practice Tuesday.
The team also left safety Brian Dawkins home. The 35-year-old Dawkins, who joined the Broncos after 13 seasons in Philadelphia, missed a week and a-half of training camp with a broken right hand that required surgery. He returned to the field a few days ago week and picked off a pass despite a cumbersome club on his hand.
Broncos rookie cornerback Alphonso Smith, a second-round pick for whom Denver traded a No. 1 pick in 2010 to Seattle to draft, left with an apparent injury to his right leg in the third quarter following a kickoff return. The Broncos said only that Smith had an injury to a "lower extremity."
Chris Simms replaced starting quarterback Kyle Orton midway through the third quarter and completed five of seven passes into the fourth period. Then impressive Seahawks rookie pass rusher Nick Reed got tangled up with a blocker and landed on Simms' left foot. Simms limped into the locker room with trainers. Rookie Tom Brandstater replaced him.
Marshall spent two days last week working almost exclusively with the scout team after saying he was nowhere near mastering the new offense.
He is upset with the Broncos over their refusal to redo his contract after consecutive 100-catch seasons or to trade him. He's also angry with their handling of his acquittal on battery charges last week.
Players were told by a staffer not to say they were happy for Marshall.
Marshall missed the preseason opener at San Francisco last week while attending his court case in Atlanta.
He boycotted the team's offseason workouts, at first to recover from March 31 hip surgery, and then in protest of his contract and what he felt was the team's misdiagnosis of his hip injury.
He pulled up lame with a hamstring injury three days into training camp and missed two weeks before returning to practice last Sunday.
His agent, Kennard McGuire, met with McDaniels this week at the team's headquarters, presumably to talk about renegotiating his contract. Neither McGuire or McDaniels would say whether a trade request was reissued this week on behalf of Marshall, however.
Coming off back-to-back 100-catch seasons, Marshall, who started in the Pro Bowl six months ago, has vastly outperformed his contract, which calls for him to make $2.2 million this year.
Now, he said he has "trust issues" with the Broncos over their handling of his acquittal.
http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2009/aug/24/pro-football-its-on-cutler-bronco-reunion-might/?partner=RSS