March 30--The annual coaches breakfast at the NFL owners meetings is a media free-for-all that amounts to some of the best access on the calendar. For an hour, coaches take questions from reporters who are free to bounce around the room and pick some of the finest football brains out there.
John Fox nursed his morning coffee Wednesday while surrounded at his table in the back of Ballroom 3 at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel. We Bears reporters asked the requisite Jay Cutler questions before advancing to more nuanced topics, such as Kyle Long's potential to play tackle and Kyle Fuller's fit in the new defense. There was a lot of ground to cover with the new coach.
As we moved down our checklist, reporters from national outlets would pop in and redirect the conversation back to Cutler. First it was Newsday, then Sports Illustrated, then USA Today and NBC Sports Network.
Such is life for a Bears team once again led by a big-name coach. When national outlets come to cover Fox, they have to talk about the team. And who's going to grab their attention? The embattled quarterback, of course.
So just when the Cutler narrative seemed overcooked to a crisp, the oven just got hotter.
Can Jay be an effective leader? What's the latest interpretation of his demeanor? How will Fox handle his attitude? Those familiar (and tired) questions will be wrung dry. Even though there were six nationally televised games last season, the focus on Cutler will be more intense in 2015 because of Fox.
Here's a sample from Fox's Wednesday's breakfast, courtesy of a national reporter: "How different is it walking into a building where Peyton Manning is leading the show, then coming to work in the morning and Jay Cutler is the guy?"
Ouch.
Fox's response: "I'll go back to when people forget that we had Kyle Orton, Brady Quinn and Tim Tebow. When I walked into that building, I didn't have Peyton Manning."
Double ouch.
Rex Grossman was the last Bears quarterback to be cast as Peyton Manning's foil -- in the Super Bowl eight years ago -- and we know how long he lasted after that. Not that Grossman's and Cutler's situations are similar, but the upcoming season does have the feel of being Cutler's final act, despite the fact he's entering only the second year of a seven-year deal.
Bears fans should know Cutler well enough to adopt a believe-it-when-I-see-it approach regarding his potential under new coordinator Adam Gase, whose collaborative efforts with Manning the last three seasons earned the star quarterback's full endorsement.
If it goes well, one of the NFL's greatest turnarounds will spark glowing national headlines. If not, Fox and the Bears will need more than coffee to stomach all the attention.
rcampbell@tribpub.com
