The news on Jay Cutler could have been worse for the Bears.
Cutler is expected to miss two to three weeks with a sprained thumb, according to NFL.com, but Bears coach John Fox said a lot will depend on how it heals over the next three days.
On Tuesday, Fox said that Cutler isn’t likely to need surgery on his thumb. He suffered the injury Monday night against the Eagles.
While Cutler’s absence won’t be as lengthy as some might have originally thought, it will be up to Brian Hoyer to rescue the 0-2 Bears from an 0-3 start Sunday night at Dallas. The Bears’ schedule softens up a little after that. They host Detroit, go to Indianapolis and host Jacksonville. But an 0-3 start would be tough to overcome no matter how easy the schedule gets, and in weeks 7 and 8 the Bears go to Green Bay then host the Vikings on Halloween night before their bye.
Hoyer was 5-4 as a starter for the Texans last year and helped get them into the playoffs before he imploded against the Chiefs in the wild-card game. It might be hard to believe now, but the Browns were 7-4 less than two years ago with Hoyer as their starter before they collapsed and lost their last five games.
Hoyer has proven to be a nice short-term solution in his career, but after an 0-2 start the Bears will need Cutler back in his 2015 form to have any shot at making the playoffs.
