It may have taken him a little bit of time, but new Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler was beginning to feel comfortable by the end of his training camp debut.
“Toward the end, I think we started getting into it,” Cutler said. “Early on, guys were kind of getting used to the new cleats, the new grass, the new atmosphere. I missed some throws I’m going to be able to make, but it’s the first day.”
With fans filling the stands and standing four or five deep between the bleachers, Cutler and the Bears took part in their first training camp practice of the season Friday at Olivet Nazarene University.
Although the team practiced without pads Friday, the practice served as a good way to break in some of the Bears’ offseason acquisitions, head coach Lovie Smith said.
“I thought we had a good start,” Smith said. “It was good for Jay to get out here and get the first work he’s had with the receivers. It was good for Orlando (Pace), Pisa (Tinoisamoa) and some of our new players to see how we do things.”
Coming off a season in which he threw for more than 4,500 yards and 25 touchdowns for the Denver Broncos, Cutler said he was ready for the first day of camp.
“I was anxious if anything,” he said. “We’ve been throwing these past couple weeks, kind of getting ready. The past couple days we’ve had off, watching some movies and getting ready to go. I think everyone was out here about 30 minutes early, so I think that kind of told you these guys were ready.”
Cutler, receivers finding rhythm
Devin Hester and Earl Bennett took the snaps with Cutler and the rest of the first-team offense Friday.
Cutler and Hester connected on a long play down the sideline in seven-on-seven drills.
Hester said he’s been impressed with Cutler thus far.
“Jay is special,” Hester said. “I talk about it all the time. He probably gets tired of me talking about it, but to his credit, he’s a nice quarterback.”
Cutler said he was happy with the play from his receivers in Friday’s practice.
“My group, I think we might have had one missed assignment,” Cutler said. “But other than that, the guys were in the right spots. They were making some plays, making some adjustments that aren’t on paper. It’s just them out there reacting. I thought they did a good job.”
Replacing Peanut
With Bears cornerback Charles “Peanut” Tilman out indefinitely following back surgery, second-year cornerback Zackary Bowman took many of the first-team reps on Friday.
Smith said Bowman’s solid performance at practice was a continuation of a good offseason, but Bowman still has room for improvement.
“He made a couple plays out there today,” Smith said. “That’s what we’ve seen from him every time we’ve given him an opportunity. (But) he has a long ways to go.”
Although Tillman’s absence isn’t ideal, defensive back Danieal Manning said the competition will help the team in the long run.
“All it is is opportunity, man,” Manning said. “I feel excited about it. It’s only going to make us better. The competition is going to be good.”
