Jay Cutler wishes he knew then what he knows now.

He looks back at his five-game trial as an NFL starter last season and knows his comfort level has expanded exponentially.

"I mean, I didn't really probably have the full offense grasped," he said. "I kind of knew the passing plays. But going through coverages, reading stuff for runs and making audibles, I was really catching up with that stuff. So it was tough."

The offseason program and training camp have helped his preparation. So did sessions with quarterbacks coach Jeremy Bates and Mike Heimer-dinger, who oversees the offense.

They worked extensively on Cutler's footwork, even his hand placement when he drops back.

Heimerdinger came away impressed by how Cutler diagnoses his own flaws. It happened the first time the two sat down together this offseason and Heimerdinger began to show the quarterback tape of his dropbacks:

"I started to say, 'What about . . . ' and he goes, 'My steps are horrible. This is bad. . . . '

"He's his own biggest critic, and when he doesn't do it right sometimes, you start to talk to him and it's hard, because he's so mad at himself and he knows he can correct it."

That ability to make changes on the fly transfers to the field as well as the film room.

"He knows when he has problems. He knows protection problems. He knows when he's hot (with a read). He sees things."

Heimerdinger said he might give Cutler a new route for a receiver and, though the timing's off for the first repetition, the next time, he'll have it down.

"He has a football sense and mentality to make really good decisions," Heimerdinger said.