CHICAGO – Chicago Bears wide receiver Brandon Marshall reaffirmed his belief that injured quarterback Jay Cutler will return from his torn groin muscle before the four-week minimum timetable announced by the team. He also said that Cutler’s “worst case scenario” calls for the quarterback to miss just one game and return in time to face the Detroit Lions on November 10.

“Look into my eyes right now,” Marshall told ESPN 1000’s “Waddle and Silvy Show” on Monday. “Jay will be back before four weeks. I’m not ruling out this game (Monday night versus the Green Bay Packers), but definitely, worst case scenario, he’ll be back for the Lions.”

Cutler watched practice on Monday from the sidelines and even caught passes from quarterbacks Josh McCown and Jordan Palmer during the portion of the workout open to the media. Although Cutler did not walk with a noticeable limp, Bears head coach Marc Trestman said after practice that Cutler does not plan to rush back from the injury prematurely.

“I am encouraged by the sense for how he is improving,” Trestman said. “That is a positive sign. I think we have to stay within the framework that the doctors gave us. I think that is prudent right now. And we’ll see where he is next week.

“I think he is trying to get better as quickly as he can,” Trestman said. “I don’t know that he is trying to push it. He wants to get back as soon as he can. That is all that I can really say. I think we’ve got to stay in line with what the doctors have said and if it’s better than that we would certainly be happy about that. He is not doing anything that the doctors wouldn’t have him do. He’s not overextending himself.”

However, Marshall explained that Trestman has a reason for downplaying Cutler’s injury.

“He’s supposed to say that,” Marshall said. “It’s one of those things where you just keep expectations down. To be honest, it’s really a four-to-six week injury. He’s doing some great work right now, and it’s not anything ending (illegal). Everything (with Cutler’s rehab) is on the up and up.”

Marshall said he tore a muscle earlier in his career and returned to the action ten days later.

“I had a similar injury, different muscle, but we’re talking about a tear,” Marshall said. “Once he know that’s he’s good to go, there is still going to be some discomfort there. I was supposed to be out four-to-six weeks and I came back in ten days. I still felt it, but it probably took two or three days for me to say just go out there and everything is okay. Once I got out there and caught a pass, I was able to be effective.”

Marshall smiled when asked what Cutler’s reaction will be when the quarterback finds out his teammate revealed injury information on the radio.

“Jay can be a politician at times,” Marshall said. “Jay’s probably going to downplay it and be like, ‘I don’t know the doctor said four-to-six weeks’ but in the locker room Jay is going to be like, ‘I’m crushing it right now…flying around and destroying their timeline’, but on television and radio he’ll be like Trestman Jr.”