What It Means:

This assumes the thumb heals normally. The Bears have been saying Cutler's right (throwing) thumb is only sprained, and called him day to day. He's clearly more week to week. Brian Hoyer will take over at quarterback with a ridiculously easy schedule over the next month. Hoyer is a competent enough backup that wide receiver Alshon Jeffery shouldn't be downgraded heavily.

Our algorithms project Hoyer for 241 passing yards, 1.43 touchdowns, and 0.86 interceptions on 35 passing attempts in Week 3.