Chicago Bears head coach Marc Trestman has revealed that only the club's doctors will decide when quarterback Jay Cutler will return from injury.
Cutler sustained a torn muscle in his groin in his side's defeat to the Washington Redskins but wide receiver Brandon Marshall and the quarterback himself hoped his absence would be brief.
"Brandon is a teammate and he's optimistic that his teammate will be back," Trestman told reporters.
"He's not the doctor. When I talk about a player's prognosis to play, it's not mine. It's what the doctors have said is the normal.
"That doesn't mean that Jay can't beat the odds and come back quicker and again, he's optimistic, you've talked to him, he's optimistic, and we all are, I don't make that determination, the doctors do."
The Bears are 4-3 in their season after week eight.
