Gase and Loggains started in the offseason by rewinding Cutler’s Bears film five years back to the 2010 season, when Mike Martz was Cutler’s coordinator. Gase worked under Martz for three seasons, two in Detroit and one in San Francisco, so he had a thorough understanding of the Don Coryell-based digits system Martz ran, and the decisions Cutler was making in that offense. From 2013-14, former Bears head coach Marc Trestman and quarterbacks coach Matt Cavanaugh employed West Coast concepts, another system Gase learned during his first NFL job under Steve Mariucci in Detroit, from 2003-05.
“The starting point was trying to find ways to help him in the pocket when things aren’t going well,” Gase says. “What can we do to help him either create, or protect him? Whether it be a play call, or just working on drills that if he has to move and there are a lot of bodies around him, what’s the best way to do that?”
Cutler has praised Gase many times at his weekly press conferences (a team spokesman said the quarterback would not be available for a one-on-one interview). On his reduction in turnovers, Cutler said recently, “It goes back to the scheme and the way Adam calls plays and designs stuff, and the coaching. There is always an emphasis of knowing where everyone is at and not forcing balls.”
Loggains created drills to run with Cutler during the individual portion of practices, in which he throws beanbags at the quarterback or makes him move with heavy traffic around him, so he’s aware of how he’s holding the football. And Gase has designed pass concepts that have created discipline in Cutler’s game, putting him in the shotgun and having him get the ball out quickly.
