They will take their shots at Jay Cutler here Sunday night.
In a place called Wrigley’s Chicago Bar in Golden, they will stage a contest in which participants will deface Cutler jerseys. They wanted to burn them, but the local fire department wouldn’t let them. And they will sell “Cutler Sucks” T-shirts.
In the stands, the fans will jeer him and display signs detailing their displeasure over how Cutler orchestrated a trade to the Bears.
On NBC, Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth and Andrea Kremer will scrutinize how a player as talented as Cutler could be traded as he is entering the prime of his career.
On the field, the Broncos will try to give him something to remember the city by–a souvenir lump on his head, perhaps. Former teammates seem intent on doing most of their talking with their shoulder pads, however.
“It will be fun to play against him,” Broncos defensive end Kenny Peterson said. “We played against him every day in practice but never had a chance to hit him. We would always joke about him taking some hits. Now it’s for real. We’ll see what happens. They have a great offensive line and he’s very elusive in the pocket.”
No matter what Cutler or any- one else says, there is clearly a little more intensity surrounding this game than most exhibitions.
“He’ll be extra motivated,” Broncos center Casey Wiegmann said. “He wants to show this was a good thing for him. And we want to show it’s a good thing we have going here. I think he wants to show the fans something. He kind of got a bad rap with the way things happened.”
Broncos coach Josh McDaniels, who has received his share of criticism for trading an ascending Pro Bowl quarterback, also might like to show the world his coaching can overcome Cutler’s rare ability. Not that McDaniels would admit it. The first-year coach has been very closed-mouthed about Cutler this week.
Cutler has said he probably would do some things differently if he could go back to the time when the trade talk started, and he said the Broncos probably would too.
Asked if he would do anything differently if he could go back, McDaniels said, “I’m not going back. We’ve moved on. He’s going to be fine in Chicago, I’m sure of that. He’s a great player. He’s going to have a good future. We’ve moved on as an organization.”
Asked how good he thought Cutler could be, McDaniels said only, “I don’t know. I never had an opportunity to coach him.”
While McDaniels has put Cutler in his past, some of his ex-teammates have not. Players such as tight end Tony Scheffler, wide receiver Brandon Stokley and Wiegmann have remained friendly with Cutler.
But they have not taken Cutler’s departure personally.
“It becomes a business at some point, so every individual has to do what they think is right,” Stokley said. “That was his decision. You learn to live with things like that and move on. You don’t hold grudges. You don’t get distracted. We’re just happy [Kyle] Orton is here.”
Asked to compare Cutler with the quarterback he was traded for, Stokley said, “They both are very competitive. They both want to win. They’re pretty different as players.
“Cutler probably is more laid back as far as his demeanor. Some people take that the wrong way, but I thought that was a good quality. Orton isn’t as laid back.”
Cutler probably won’t be quite as laid back as usual Sunday night.
Nor will his former teammates.
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dpompei@tribune.com
More coverage
* Check out 10 things David Haugh knows heading into the Bears’ Sunday night game. BACK PAGE
* Vaughn McClure identifies the Bears with the most to gain and the most to lose. BACK PAGE
* Sam Farmer’s NFL notes. PAGE 9
On the Internet: Watch video of our Bears reporters sharing their pregame thoughts in Denver at chicagotribune.com/bears
