Bears Coordinator Mike Martz Compares Jay Cutler to Kurt Warner

Bears offensive coordinator Mike Martz is heaping praise on quarterback Jay Cutler, saying Cutler compares favorably to the best quarterback he ever coached.

"He has that Kurt Warner-awareness," Martz said of Cutler. "He has such a keen sense of where everybody's at. He sees everything, can diagnose it without even thinking about it, which allows him to excel with what we do."

Given how Cutler played last year, it sounds a little preposterous on first blush to hear him compared to Warner. Cutler threw 26 interceptions last season, more than Warner ever threw in even his worst year. But Martz says Cutler never ceases to impress.

"His retention and everything is better than I thought it would be," Martz said. "There's nothing I would say that we have to go back and fix. His footwork took a little bit longer because he wasn't used to it, but he's got that down. Right now it's just getting synched up with the receivers and going to play."

Martz also addressed the talk from early in the offseason that he and Cutler wouldn't get along, saying that couldn't be further from the truth.

"If you knew really, and I don't mean any disrespect, but if you knew how silly that was and how easy things are between he and I," Martz said with a smile.

"I thoroughly enjoy his company, just enjoy being around him outside the football part of it too. He's got a great sense of humor by the way. He's a little screwed up in his sense of humor like I am, so we kind of fit pretty good I think."

And so Martz and Cutler look like a match made in heaven. At least in August.