FRESH START
Cutler, out of retirement to step in for injured Tannehill, is getting up to speed in Miami
It’s as if he’s a rookie, as opposed to a quarterback who spent the last 11 years in the NFL.
Jay Cutler is once again adjusting to the speed of the game.
With no offseason program or minicamps, he’s had to hit the ground running in Miami, coming out of retirement and dumping his plans to be an on-air football analyst to step in for the injured Ryan Tannehill.
“Coming from a place you’ve been for eight years, you kind of know everybody,” said Cutler, 34, who spent his first three seasons in Denver and the next eight in Chicago. “There’s a new influx of people from year to year, but for the majority, you know everybody.”
He said his first few days with the Dolphins were “a whirlwind,” and that it’s getting easier and more comfortable by the day.
Of course, Cutler is quite familiar with the offense of coach Adam Gase, who was his offensive coordinator with the Bears in 2015 when the quarterback threw for 21 touchdowns with 11 interceptions, and had a career-best passer rating of 92.3.
“He has the offense down pretty good,” Gase said. “He’s a quick study.
“It’s just really knowing what it is and seeing it in your head on paper and then all of the sudden you’ve got four guys rushing at you or they bring some kind of exotic blitz and the processing speed of all that. And then still trying to figure out the receivers’ body language or run courses and play-action fakes. There’s a lot of little things that go on just besides saying, ‘Hey I’m going to execute this like it’s on paper.’ ”
The Dolphins are looking to finally reshuffle the power structure in a division that has been dominated for so long by Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.
Brady, who turned 40 this summer, is on the verge of all sorts of records. He led the NFL with 36 touchdown passes last season and is tied with Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers with a record four seasons of at least 35 touchdown passes. Four more regular-season victories would move Brady past Manning (186) and Brett Favre (186) for the most in history by a starting quarterback.
What’s more, Brady and Manning are the only two players with 11 seasons of 12 or more wins. One more, and Brady would stand alone.
He’s not getting too far ahead of himself, though. He’s almost annoyed by all the 19-0 talk that’s buzzing around the powerhouse Patriots.
“This team is so far from where we need to be, and we have so far to go,” Brady told WEEI radio in Boston. “It’s really unfair to set expectations, to me in my mind. It’s really a setup, you know?”
At the opposite end of the quarterback spectrum are the New York Jets, who have the underwhelming trio of Josh McCown, Christian Hackenberg and Bryce Petty. There was much speculation this summer about why the Jets would pass on signing Colin Kaepernick, who is better than any of those three.
In Buffalo, Tyrod Taylor is missing two of his favorite targets, receivers Sammy Watkins and Robert Woods, both of whom are now playing for the Rams. He does have former Philadelphia receiver Jordan Matthews, but he is injured (sternum).
This is a critical juncture for Taylor. The Bills are committed financially to him through this season, and they have the option to pay him a $6-million roster bonus in March to keep him for 2018 at $18.08 million. Or, they could save $14 million by releasing him. His deal was restructured during the offseason and expires after the 2018 season.