Chicago Bears: Jermon Bushrod remembers another time team made the wrong QB decision
By Mark Carman
Former Chicago Bear offensive lineman Jermon Bushrod recalls when the Bears chose Jay Cutler over Josh McCown.
The year was 2013. The Chicago Bears were off to a 3-0 start under new head coach and supposed offensive guru Marc Trestman. Trestman had replaced Lovie Smith after a 10-6 season where the Bears just missed the playoffs. Optimism was in full bloom.
But, then a loss to the Detroit Lions. Jay Cutler, the talented but enigmatic quarterback, threw three interceptions and lost a fumble, four brutal turnovers in all. Week 5 brought another loss to New Orleans and two more Cutler fumbles.
Cutler and the Bears then beat a winless New York Giants team in Week 6. Week 7 was when things really got interesting against 1-4 Washington. Cutler started awful perhaps thinking of doing a reality TV show one day. He went 3-for-8 passing for 28 yards with an interception before leaving the game with an injured groin in the second quarter.
Josh McCown, who hadn’t played since 2011, came off the bench to shockingly rally the Bears to 313 second-half yards. McCown dazzled, completing 14 of 20 passes for 204 yards including a 7-yard touchdown pass to Martellus Bennet with 3:57 left that gave the Bears a 41-38 lead. Washington ended up winning 45-41 thrashing an old Bears defense once again.
Week 9 was at Green Bay after a bye week. Nobody gave the Bears a chance to win. They won, 27-20, with McCown throwing two touchdown passes. But, Trestman went back to a banged up Cutler in week 10. Cutler was supposed to be out 4 weeks, but he wanted back in. The Bears lost 21-19.
McCown came on for the final drive after a dismal Cutler performance and led the Bears down the field to a touchdown with 40 seconds to go. They needed a two-point conversion for overtime. Trestman ran the ball, Matt Forte was stopped in the backfield.
And so it went in 2013 for the Bears. McCown played well when given a chance, three straight games throwing for 352, 355, 338 in weeks 12-14, but ultimately the Bears went back to Cutler for the final three games of the season. They missed the playoffs by one game. Cutler threw 4 interceptions the final three weeks. The Bears won one game.
Offensive Lineman Jermon Bushrod was in his first year with the Bears. He remembers McCown making an instant impact.
“We had some fun when Josh came in. He lit it up for us. We were riding the wave man,” Bushrod said. “It was a good thing we had going for sure. Good person, great man. All around the type of leader that you want in the huddle for sure.”
So why did Cutler end up playing the final three weeks?
“I’m not going to put the GM hat on right now,” Bushrod said. “I just know that as a player when you get hurt, first it’s tough to be on the sideline, but second to see somebody in there doing so well, so that obviously that brings up so many more questions.”
Should the Bears have made the playoffs in 2013?
“You looked at it on the offensive side and the defensive side of the ball we had some players that could make plays that played football at a high level for a very long time,” Bushrod said. “It was definitely disappointing that we couldn’t turn my first year there into a playoff run cause we definitely had the talent.”
Bushrod tells some great stories about McCown in the huddle, his thought on Brian Urlacher and being compared to …. Shaq! To hear the entire Bushrod interview click on Da Windy City podcast.
Bushrod is giving back through his Visualize and Rise Foundation.