Jon Gruden wanted Bears to bench Jay Cutler for Jimmy Clausen

Jay Cutler was so bad for the Chicago Bears on “Monday Night Football,” announcer Jon Gruden thought the team should have benched the quarterback for backup Jimmy Clausen. Seriously.

The Bears were down 21-0 to the New Orleans Saints and Cutler had just thrown his third interception of the game when Gruden made his comment.

“If I’m Marc Trestman, I’m going to take a look at Jimmy Clausen to see what I have here down the stretch. It’s just not happening for Cutler,” Gruden said.

Announcer Mike Tirico was so shocked, he said, “Wow, really?” in response.

At the time of the remark, Cutler was 9-of-19 for 87 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions. The three picks gave Cutler a league-worst 18 on the season.

“This last interception was not good for Jay Cutler,” said Gruden.

Cutler finished the game 17-of-31 for 194 yards and two touchdowns in addition to the three picks. His numbers improved thanks to two scoring drives after his team was already down 24-0 in the fourth quarter.

Let me remind you that Clausen threw for three touchdowns, nine interceptions and lost two fumbles over 13 games in his rookie season with the Carolina Panthers in 2010. Clausen is 3-of-9 for 42 yards this season. For Gruden to even suggest going to Clausen … Cutler had to have been truly terrible. And you know what? This isn’t the first time someone has argued for Cutler to be benched.