Jay Cutler went to the locker room after being injured attempting to make a tackle after an interception before halftime of the contest against the Cardinals. After being looked at by team officials, the Bears have announced that he is out with a hamstring injury and will not return, according to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune (via Twitter).
Jimmy Clausen has taken over under center for the Bears, and the team does not have another active quarterback behind him. Cutler had played well prior to that interception.
The bigger concern is how serious the injury is for Cutler. Hamstring injuries often linger throughout the season, although more commonly effecting receivers and running backs. Often they can cause players to miss significant time.
Cutler isn’t necessarily a threat to run, but a hamstring issue would make it difficult to throw the ball downfield. It is unclear which leg was injured, but either or could threat the immediate future of the Bears’ starting quarterback. Whether it is his plant foot or his drive leg, a serious strain could keep him on the sidelines for a few weeks.
In that case, the team would need to bring in another quarterback to back up Clausen, even if only for a few games.