LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Senior writer Larry Mayer sits down with general manager Jerry Angelo to discuss the most pressing issues involving the Bears every Wednesday exclusively on ChicagoBears.com.

This feature will provide you with inside information directly from Jerry that you can’t get anywhere else. Jerry will candidly discuss relevant issues affecting the Bears that fans are most interested in.

LM: After Jay Cutler threw five interceptions against the 49ers, Lovie Smith conceded that it was the type of performance that could shake the quarterback’s confidence. How concerned are you about that, and how do you think a game like that will affect Jay moving forward?

Bears quarterback Jay Cutler has thrown an NFL-high 17 interceptions this season.

JA: I’m not as concerned about how it’s going to affect Jay in terms of his attitude and his ability to lead and play quality football. I have no qualms about that because we’ve seen him do that here and in Denver. He’s been through the ups and downs of the position, and I’m confident that he’s going to be able to handle this. You’re always going to have times when things don’t go right—obviously last Thursday was one of those—but it’s what you learn from the game, not only about yourself but your teammates in situations like that. I’m sure there were a lot of lessons taken from that game on Thursday given that we were down in the red zone and we weren’t able to finish drives.

LM: With new starters at quarterback, wide receiver, tight end and on the offensive line, what type of growing pains did you anticipate with the Bears offense this season?

JA: I expected these [growing pains]. I said it from the onset. I know there was a lot of enthusiasm and expectations—rightfully so, and that’s great. I’m not minimizing any of that. But I know this: It’s a team sport and there’s going to be a transition with any new player whether it’s a veteran or a rookie. When you bring in a quarterback, you’re even more mindful of that. What we need to do now is start being more consistent in all areas of our play. The biggest thing that’s maligned us has been our performance in the red zone. We’ve been down there, but we’ve not been able to finish drives.

LM: How encouraged were you with how well the Bears defense performed against the 49ers, especially given the way the unit had played in two of its previous three games versus the Bengals and Cardinals?

JA: I thought that the defense played exceptionally well. The most important statistic to me is points allowed, and we did a real good job in that area. Their only touchdown came after they returned an interception to our 14-yard line. The only negative about that was that they did it on the first play [following the turnover]. But short of that, the pressure, our coverage, the way we were able to contain a real good running back [in Frank Gore] for four quarters, I thought all of that was very good. It’s something that we expect of our defense. They answered the challenge coming off a poor performance the week before against the Cardinals, and hopefully we’re going to see a lot more of that the rest of the season.

LM: With a sack and a tackle-for-loss against the 49ers, Tommie Harris looked like the old Tommie Harris. How pleased were you with how he played, especially after he was ejected from the previous game for punching an opponent?

JA: We expected to see a good game out of Tommie, and we did. I’ve said all along that we’ve seen flashes with Tommie. But he was able to package a whole game against the 49ers. Now what he’s got to do is package entire games for the rest of the season. He’s capable of playing at a Pro Bowl level. We’ve seen it. We saw it Thursday night. I’ve seen it before, but not for four quarters like he did on Thursday. I’ve got to go back to the Seattle game [in Week 3] where I thought he played a pretty good game from start to finish. It’s not a matter of effort with Tommie. It’s just a matter of him staying the course, doing the things that he knows that he can do and playing with the confidence that he should have given that his talent and experience should keep him at a Pro Bowl level here on out.