Chicago Bears head coach Marc Trestman has been criticized for the way he has handled off-field issues this season. Jay Cutler’s benching is no exception.
While you can’t really fault Trestman for sitting Cutler down, he probably could have done a better job of informing his team about the decision before it went public. Bears offensive tackle Jermon Bushrod and others found out on Twitter before Trestman met with his players.
“I found out just like everyone else found out and that was through social media,” Bushrod said, via Adam Hoge of 87.7 The Game in Chicago. “Obviously (Trestman’s) plan was to tell the team first, but it didn’t work out that way. … We would like for everything to come from in-house first, but at the end of the day it didn’t work out like that. Unfortunately it didn’t work out like that and we just have to deal with that.”
The Bears did not practice on Wednesday because of a short week. Trestman informed Cutler and Jimmy Clausen on Wednesday that he was making the switch, and the news was leaked to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. It quickly went viral before Trestman had a chance to tell his team in person on Thursday.
“Yesterday, during the day, I met with Jay and Jimmy to tell them my intentions and walk them through the process of how this was gonna be handled,” Trestman said Thursday. “Later in the day, I met with (general manager Phil Emery) to talk to him about my decision and finalize it in our staff meeting last night as we talk about players and how we’re gonna start the week.”
Offensive lineman Kyle Long said he also found out on Twitter that Cutler had been benched, which he labeled “not ideal.”
This isn’t like players finding out about a trade on Twitter before they hear it from the team. In those instances, negotiations are sensitive and teams don’t want to compromise anything. Trestman could have done a better job of getting the information to the entire time immediately and avoiding a situation like the one we saw with the Redskins earlier this season.
One report already indicated that several Bears players couldn’t believe Cutler was benched and offensive coordinator Aaron Kromer received no punishment for making these comments. Trestman has to become a better leader and manager.
