With starter Jay Cutler needing to pass the league’s concussion protocol, the Bears are expected to re-sign veteran Josh McCown as insurance, according to a league source.
Cutler and Jason Campbell are the only two quarterbacks on the active roster; rookie Matthew Blanchard is on the team’s practice squad.
McCown, 33, has bounced around the league. But he endeared himself to the Bears last season, when he was signed as a backup to Caleb Hanie. McCown got the start in the season finale against the Minnesota Vikings and completed 15 of 25 passes for 160 yards with one touchdown and one interception. The Bears won the game 17-13.
On Sunday night, Bears coach Lovie Smith didn’t rule Cutler, who didn’t play in the second half, out for next Monday’s game in San Francisco. Cutler, though, will not make his weekly Monday appearance on ESPN 1000, a reporter from ESPN Chicago wrote on his Twitter account.
But Cutler must be cleared by team doctors and an independent consultant before he can return to the practice field.
49er quarterback Alex Smith will have to do the same thing because he was knocked out of Sunday’s game against the St. Louis Rams with a concussion.
Campbell, who is on a one-year deal, completed 11 of 19 passes for 94 yards.
