Bears not 100% ready to rule Jay Cutler out against Packers

Gary Mihoces | USA TODAY Sports

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — We'll just have to wait and see about Jay Cutler's groin injury, but that won't stop water cooler discussion of it.

The Chicago Bears quarterback said again Tuesday he hopes to beat the initial prognosis of team doctors that he'll miss at least four weeks. Coach Marc Trestman clarified his remarks from a day earlier about the timetable. Then Trestman tossed in a tantalizing sound bite. He said he wouldn't say it's "100%" Cutler is out for Monday night at the Green Bay Packers.

Cutler limped off the field Oct. 20 during a road game against the Washington Redskins. The Bears said he had a torn groin muscle. After watching practice Tuesday and doing some light throwing, Cutler was asked about getting back ahead of schedule.

"Yeah, that's the goal," said Cutler, coming off a bye week with the rest of the Bears.

"Whenever they give me the green light, you know, we're going to go in there rockin' and we can't look back. So whenever that happens, you'll see me out there."

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A day earlier, Trestman said of his quarterback: "He wants to get back as soon as he can. That's all I can really say, but I think we've got to stay in line with what the doctors have said, and if it's better than that, we certainly would be happy about that."

If you interpreted that as meaning Cutler will definitely miss four weeks, Trestman said that's not what he meant.

"What I'm saying is that I don't decide when Jay comes back ... or when any player comes back," the coach clarified Tuesday. "The doctors make that decision. What I was doing was I was just reiterating the prognosis of the doctors. They're not always right. It could happen faster. Jay's optimistic. ... We all are."

Backup quarterback Josh McCown ran the offense Tuesday and is set to start at Green Bay. But Trestman just may be able to rever to Plan A.

"You never want to say never, but I will say it's highly unlikely that Jay will be playing on Monday night," said Trestman, whose team has a day off Wednesday before resuming practice.

"But I would not want to make it 100% at this point in time. There's a lot of time before the game. But it's highly unlikely."

Cutler was clearly not full speed Tuesday.

"He just played a little catch for the receivers more than anything, but he didn't move around," said Trestman. "He was just stationary doing the things that he could."

Bears wide receiver Brandon Marshall predicted Monday that Cutler will be back in two weeks against the Detroit Lions.

"Brandon is a teammate, and he's optimistic that his teammate will be back," said Trestman. "He's not the doctor."

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Follow Gary Mihoces on Twitter @ByGaryMihoces