The Chicago Bears took the somewhat unusual step this offseason of having their quarterback, Jay Cutler, involved in the interview process before they hired Mike Martz as offensive coordinator. And in preparing for that interview, Cutler called around to hear what other quarterbacks think of Martz.
“I talked to Jay a day or two before [the Bears] interviewed Martz,’' 49ers quarterback Alex Smith told the Chicago Tribune. “I think Jay wanted to call around and get an idea because he was about to meet with [Martz]. He just wanted to get a little inside information about what he was like.’'
Martz was the 49ers’ offensive coordinator in 2008, the year that Smith never got on the field all season. But that doesn’t mean Smith offered Cutler a negative opinion of Martz.
“I think the first thing is you just have to trust the system and buy into it,’' Smith said. “It [will be] a little different than anything he ever has done . . . at least it was that for me . . . and you just have to trust it from the jump. . . . There are a lot of good things in this offense that no one else is doing in the league.’'
Smith didn’t get to experience any of those good things. But so far, the early indications out of Chicago are that Cutler is, in fact, buying into Martz’s system.
