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Bears coach John Fox avoided promising quarterback Jay Cutler his job back while he was injured, so it makes sense that Cutler seems to realize his future in Chicago is something other than secure.

Cutler came back to practice Tuesday after missing five games with a right thumb injury, just in time to replace injured replacement Brian Hoyer, and was asked if he felt confident he had the support of his coach.

“He doesn’t have a choice, I guess, at this point,” Cutler said, via Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune. “Brian is out, so I’ve got to go. I’ve had good conversations with Foxy this week, last week, the week before. There’s never been any strain in our relationship. We’re both very open and honest, and we’re on the same page. We just want to win football games.”

Asked about how he felt when Fox left the starting job open-ended while he was on the sideline and Hoyer was playing reasonably well, Cutler busted out one of Fox’s favorite cliches.

“It is what it is,” Cutler said. “Anytime you have a backup quarterback—and to Brian’s credit, he played well. I think as a team, we wish we would have won some more of those ball games. But Brian went in there and did a great job. My discussions with everybody that I have relationships with in here were positive, and whenever I was ready to go, I’d be ready to go.

“There was never any discussion regarding [whether I’d take back over] with me.”

It was a solid moment of #selfawareness from Cutler, who seems to get that he’s no longer the quarterback of the future there. He acknowledged as much, saying those would be conversations that happened at the end of the year, which is his eighth in Chicago.