Bears QB Jay Cutler will miss at least 4 weeks with torn groin muscle

Bad news for the Bears.

Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler will miss at least a month with a torn groin muscle, and linebacker Lance Briggs has a small fracture in his shoulder, the team announced Monday.

Cutler was injured Sunday when he was sacked by Washington, the team-record 158^th time he’s been sacked since joining the Bears in 2009. His injury will not require surgery, the Bears said.

“I’m only confident by what they’ve told me,” Bears Coach Marc Trestman said of the quarterback’s status. “This is a minimum of four weeks. Then he’ll be evaluated week to week. ... Four weeks is a reasonable start. And then it’ll be week to week. I’m encouraged by the prognosis.”

Said Trestman of Cutler: “He’s disappointed he was injured. I can take it as far as that. He was in a good frame of mind today. He was very reasonable but certainly very disappointed.”

Josh McCown will step in as the starting quarterback. In relief of Cutler in Sunday’s 45-41 defeat, McCown threw for 204 yards and a touchdown.

“It’s an uphill battle,” McCown told reporters Monday. “You lose a leader like Jay, a leader like Lance, it’s a blow to your team. As is with every team in the NFL, it’s next man up. It’s how we do it. You’ve just got to get ready to go, get ready to play. There are going to be people stepping up on the defensive side of the ball. I’ll have to step up on the offensive side of the ball and we’ll have to find a way to get it done.”

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