Bears' Gould critical of decision to bench Cutler, calls him a 'scapegoat'

Chicago Bears kicker Robbie Gould was critical of head coach Marc Trestman's decision to bench quarterback Jay Cutler in a radio interview Monday.

Gould questioned the message Trestman tried to send to his players with his decision to sit Cutler and start Jimmy Clausen in Sunday's 20-14 loss to the Detroit Lions in an interview with WSCR-AM 670 on Monday.

"To be honest with you, I feel really bad for Jay," Gould said, according to the Chicago Tribune. "When you're having a tough season like this, he's not the guy to be the scapegoat or the guy to blame. There's a lot of guys you could put that blame on. Unfortunately, I don’t know if necessarily he's a guy that should take the entire blame because he doesn't deserve it."

The show is hosted by Pat Mannelly, who served as the Bears' long snapper for 16 seasons before retiring in June. He asked Gould whether Trestman was trying to send a message to the team or to Cutler with the benching.

"I honestly don't even know what the message is, Pat, to be honest with you," Gould said. "I just think it's been a long season. I think he thought maybe he thought this was going to provide a spark to the team. That's what he told us. I wish Jay was out there playing."

Gould later broadened his blame.

"You could bench the whole team," Gould said. "It's not like anybody has really played fantastic or great. I mean, we're 5-10 now. So ... Jay is not the problem. Jay is not the issue. It's just unfortunate. This is, honestly, it's not the Bear way. I mean, this whole season is not the Bear way. Pointing fingers, things getting out of the locker room - that's not the Chicago Bear way."