Cutler says he’s getting more comfortable on and off field

When the Dolphins decided to sign Jay Cutler this offseason, they realized he had been study- ing to be a broadcaster, not at all preparing to play quarterback in the NFL.

So Gase, Executive VP Mike Tannenbaum and general manager Chris Grier had a meeting, in which they realized that things might look a lot better toward the end of the season than at the beginning.

“We’re probably going to go through some interesting growing pains in public,” Gase recalled Thursday of the conversation. “It’s not going to be in training camp, it’s not going to be in OTAs. We went through a little bit of that where it didn’t look very good. We had to work through that.”

In Cutler’s past seven starts, he has 15 touchdowns, eight interceptions and seven sacks.

Overall, Cutler is 6-5 as a starter, including 5-3 in his past eight starts.

On Thursday, Cutler had a comfortable, engaging interaction with the South Florida media at his weekly news conference.

Cutler talked about his speed, the snow, his beard, his wife and even his future.

Cutler said it’s not fair to anybody to talk about

the future and his plans now, but that he’ll be more ready to talk about them after the season.

But as for the fun stuff:

■ On his impressive 360-degree spin move against the Patriots to avoid a sack and set up a touchdown:

“We had a little miscommunication up front. I just

kind of caught — I was working right — and I just kind of caught it out of my peripheral, hit the spin button quick and was lucky enough to get out of there . ... I think (Kenyan) Drake probably made it look a little bit easier than I did.”

■ On weather in Buffalo, a climate he knows well from playing in Denver and Chicago: “I think wind is probably the biggest factor in some of these cold-weather games. Snow, rain, 30 degrees, that’s all fine. We’ve got heated benches, heated hand muffs, heated helmet things, so once you get out there, you’re running on adrenaline. But if it’s windy, I think that probably affects QBs more than anything else.”

■ On why he hasn’t shaven: “I don’t know. My wife hates it. Hell, I don’t really like it, but you can’t mess with a winning streak, so we’ll see how long it goes. There’s gray in there. You guys can zoom in . ... I’m getting old quickly.”

■ On the Vanderbilt sweatshirt he wore in honor of his alma mater and his home of Nashville: “I watch them. I talk to (coach Derek) Mason, I talk to some of the guys over there. We beat Tennessee. They didn’t quite make a bowl, but the recruiting class is looking good, so I’m excited for them.”

■ On his wife, Kristin Cavallari, and living out of a suitcase: “There’s ups and downs, there’s pluses and minuses, but Kristin has been extremely supportive and she’s doing a great job with the kids.

There’s plenty of time after football to catch up on everything . ... I might havetwo bags of clothes, but still just a car, so not much.” Gase also senses Cutler is more comfortable.

“I think the longer you go, the more comfortable you get,” Gase said. “As a quarterback, you really know the guys that you’re working with. You develop more timing . ... Guys did a good job of sticking with it and not getting frustrated and it kept building week after week . ... It’s just one of those things, you tweak a little bit at a time. It’s

hard to make just an overall change in one day.”