Bears quarterback Jay Cutler and long snapper Patrick Mannelly will each undergo surgery, the team's website said on its official Twitter account.
Initially, the Bears website said Cutler's surgery was scheduled for Tuesday but then later said that wasn't the case. It concluded by saying the "Bears are hopeful he'll return before end of regular season."
But Dr. Steve Shin, a hand surgeon based in Los Angeles, told the Sun-Times that a surgery usually requires six to eight weeks for recovery. An athlete, though, could resume throwing three weeks after surgery, then the rest depends on a person's threshold for pain.
In the meantime, the Bears are expected to start Caleb Hanie but sign a veteran to back him up.
Meanwhile, the team website confirmed a Sun-Times report that Mannelly suffered a season-ending injury. The team said he ruptured his ACL.
Well here is kalab hanie's chance,needless to say now we will know whether he will be with the bears next year or not,if he can just manage the game and (not ) lose it for us by making turnovers,it looks like we will see alot more of matt left and matt right and matt up the middle,and alot more of barber now run the football bears and make kalab throw some short passes and let the recievers get some yards and we will still win with our defense,that being said we need to get to the qb and get some sacks yesterday I was not impressed at all with the defense,charlie tillman also had a long day,but a W in the end that is all that matters,Bear Down Bears and go to los angeles and beat the raidors,,GO BEARS!!!!!!!!! BEAR DOWN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is a sad day. I am mortified! What are we going to do???
Look at the bears last 6 opponents and tell me if you would want their qb instead of Hanie. They are playing the likes of Tebow, T. Jackson, Palko, and Ponder. The bears will be fine.
You gotta be kidding me, can this kid catch a break just once? I take it the injury is close to the joint, or else it would not need surgery.
Anyone catch Phil Simms refering to the Bears as the Cowboys?
Well at least the Raiders don't have game film on Hanie and have no clue what the offense will do with him. That's something at least.
Sean is it true Martz was outside Hanie's bedroom window this morning singing?
"People let me tell you 'bout my best friend,
He's a warm hearted person who'll love me till the end.
People let me tell you bout my best friend,
He's a one boy cuddly toy, my up, my down, my pride and joy. "
"People let me tell you 'bout him he's so much fun
Whether we're talkin' man to man or whether we're talking son to son.
Cause he's my best friend.
Yes he's my best friend"
Talk about needing to repair a damaged relationship, man oh man.
Somebody might want to tell Bears fans that the Raiders haven't played in Los Angeles for 17 years.
Kyle Orton is available. lol
Rough news to be sure, but the defense should be able to keep the Bears on the wnning track. I'm concerned about Carson Palmer and think the Raider game might be the toughest until Green bay comes around again.Let's hope the thumb is not as bad as the prognosis indicates.Haney might surprise us all and have some great games, but the defense had better figure on dialing up still another notch.
The Bears do NOT NEED a f$&%*#g veteran to back up Hanie.
They do this every f%&^*$g year.
They need more help on the offensive line.
Max protect does not FIX your porous O-line.
Or is Jerry "Mr. Incompetent" Angelo STILL too stupid to notice that?
With Jay Cutler down, the Bears have no choice but to take the "next guy up" approach to the situation. This is a blow to the Bears, but, I still wouldn't count the Bears out of it, the Bears can still win without elite play from their quarterback, they have been all season. I have confidence in Caleb Hanie.
An injury that would end the Bears season would be injuries to either Matt Forte or Julius Peppers, that would be a major blow and probably the end to all playoff hopes. Again, the injury to Cutler is a step back, but not the end. Cutler really hasn't come in and took over a stretch of games and won them solely on his play, the defense has, Matt Forte has, but not Cutler. Chicago got good play out of Cutler last night but, San Diego came into that game with the sole intent to stop Matt Forte, that opended a lot of things up for the Bears passing game.
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not by any means saying Hanie is better than Cutler, he isn't, I'm just saying the Bears can win with Hanie. Yes Hanie had the slow start last summer, even getting benched, but he came back and played well. Hanie has a couple seasons in Martz's scheme under his belt. Hanie is mobile and can make plays outside the pocket, that helps. And unlike last season when Hanie came into the NFC championship game and basically kept the Bears in the game, Hanie has 2nd team reps in the offense. Doesn't sound like much but actually does mean something. If Hanie can keep the Bears in the NFC championship game vs the Super Bowl winning Packers with only scout team reps, he'll do fine this season with actual reps that mean something GO BEARS!!
Both of these injured guys should just suck it up and be back next week. I saw this great story recently about the wonders of using Fix a Flat in medicine. The Bears should try it on Cutler and Mannelly. Here's the story:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45361508/ns/local_news-miami_fl/
Tough break for Cutler. He was having his best season as a Bear and had begun to turn the corner.
Hanie hasn't played much in the past few years, but I remember coming out of college, Mel Kiper Jr. was very high on him.
I predict that Hanie will be better than what Orton was for the Bears and that he'll lead the Bears to 4 more wins to finish up 11-5.
One thing is for sure...more drama has been added to the Bears' season.
Well if they try and ask Kurt Warner if he feels up to the job? Why not he knows Martz system and he would be able to step right in and Do the job! The last bum the Bears got didnt do as well as Hanie in the playoffs , So why not atleast ask Mr. Warner if he is Interested? What could this hurt? If the Bears want to just Stop trying this year on the Offence and give the Defence all the Pressure to try and carry the team! With the cheap skates of the Midway running the show lets see where they take US Fans!
That's why most quarterbacks don't try to make a tackle after throwing an int.
And I bet the Redskins would let Grossman go too if you asked them...LOL
The biggest problem with Hanie playing will be Martz's attitude, both toward Hanie and about being willing to change. Cutler's skills are much more suited to Martz's offense than Hanie's. If Martz changes his style to suit Hanie's, I think the Bears will be OK. If not, this could spell disaster.
Before anyone jumps on me, I don't mean to say that Hanie's lack of experience or playing time with the offense are not problems, they clearly are. But we all saw some of what he's capable of in the Championship game last season. I've liked him from his first pre-season game as a rookie and wish the Bears had developed him then. He has a lot of intangibles and can obviously get his team into the end zone, hopefully while not turning the ball over.
This is a must-read article from Greg Gabriel, the former Director of College Scouting for the Bears, who was responsible for scouting and signing Caleb Hanie:
http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/Who-is-Caleb-Hanie.html
The excellent article offers great insights into the evaluation process of Hanie and how he became a Bear.
This is looking ahead and maybe wishful thinking, but what happens if Hanie plays well and gets on a roll, and Cutler comes back fresh but maybe rusty from his injury? Who do you start in the playoffs, Hanie or Cutler? That would be a tough decision for Lovie Smith.
I cannot see any problem come play-off time with Cutler available choosing between him and Hanie, regardless of how well Hanie has played. Cutler is our quarterback!!