Unfamiliar turf for Hoyer
No Lambeau experience? That spells trouble with scoring already so light
The last time the Bears traveled to Lambeau Field, Jay Cutler won his first game there. Brian Hoyer has no such baggage — or success. The venerable park of the Green Bay Packers is one of three he has never played in.
He saw the stadium once, though, when he tried out as a free agent there in 2012.
“It’ll be cool to just be there for a game atmosphere,” Hoyer said this week.
Entering Thursday’s rivalry game, that’s the Bears’ quarterback quandary in a nutshell: Cutler’s proven highs and lows — he had 12 interceptions in four Lambeau Field starts before last year’s victory — against Hoyer’s lack of sizzle and pedigree.
Hoyer’s completion percentage and lack of mistakes are to be admired. He still hasn’t thrown a pick. But his flaws are becoming more apparent with each start. The Bears’ 16.8 points per game are second- to- last in the NFL, and their 1.7 offensive touchdowns per game are tied for thirdworst. Struggles are such that wide receiver Alshon Jeffery said Sunday, bluntly, that the Bears need to “score [ freaking] touchdowns.” Hoyer is unbowed. “I’m not about taking chances, risking the ball,” he said. “I think the No. 1 priority is taking care of the football. When you start turning over the football, I learned the hard way in a playoff game last year [ with four interceptions for the Houston Texans]: You don’t give yourself a chance to win. So even as frustrated as we are, trying to score touchdowns in the red area, you still don’t want to take points off the board.”
Last Sunday, Hoyer overthrew a rare deep ball to Jeffery on first down when Jeffery threw his hand up — “The Old Randy Moss Rule,” Hoyer said — after blowing past a Jacksonville Jaguars defender.
“The main thing with Alshon is that you don’t ever want to overthrow Al,” offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains said. “Al has the ability to go up and high- point the ball — that’s definitely a strength of his.”
Loggains said Hoyer has “done a nice job doing what he’s coached to do” but needs to be better going deep.
“We want him to be as aggressive as he can in the timing of the play,” he said.
Hoyer should get another chance to try that deep throw — or something similar — against the Packers. He’ll be without slot receiver Eddie Royal, who was ruled out Wednesday, but the Packers will play without their top three cornerbacks. Damarious Randall and Quinten Rollins were ruled out Wednesday, while Sam Shields was placed on injured reserve this week with a concussion.
“I don’t give a damn who’s out there,” Jeffery said. “We’ve got to roll with it. I’m pretty sure it’s next man up for them. Whoever’s out there, we’re going to try to take advantage and go after them.”
Cutler would have a database of knowledge from previous Packers games. Hoyer, of course, has never played them.
“On a short week,” he said, “that presents a challenge.”
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