LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Donning a gray t-shirt and orange shorts, quarterback Jay Cutler worked out with his new teammates inside the Walter Payton Center Monday as the Bears kicked off their voluntary offseason program.

Throwing a variety of passes during individual drills, Cutler displayed the arm strength, quick release and athleticism that helped him earn a Pro Bowl berth last season when he played for the Denver Broncos.

Quarterback Jay Cutler worked out with his new teammates Monday at Halas Hall.

“That was good,” said offensive coordinator Ron Turner. “It was important for him to be here. I’m glad we got [the trade] done when we did so that he could be here for the start of this.”

In getting Cutler up to speed with the Bears offense, Turner will begin with the basics.

“I’m going to meet with him today and just start right from the beginning: the huddle, the cadence, base formations and lay the foundation,” Turner said. “We’re not going to jump in and start talking concepts and all that yet. You’ve got to lay the foundation for what we’re doing offensively.”

The process began Sunday night when Turner and Cutler had dinner together.

“We talked about the overall philosophy; what we’re trying to do with the offense and all that,” Turner said. “Now we’ll get into the details of the terminology with formations, defenses, and everything.”

Turner was vacationing in Mexico last Thursday when he learned that the Bears had acquired Cutler and a 2009 fifth-round pick from the Broncos in exchange for quarterback Kyle Orton, first-round selections in 2009 and 2010 and a third-round choice in 2009.

“I was excited like everybody,” Turner said. “I knew that there was a chance, but how much of a chance I didn’t know.

“Like I said, everyone’s excited about him being here. But that’s not a knock on Kyle. I don’t want that to come out as that. Everybody in that locker room and everybody in this building has a lot of respect for Kyle and what he did and the way he played and everything else. It was a tough situation in that regard, but everyone’s excited that Jay’s here.”

When it first became clear that Cutler could be available via a trade, Turner broke down tape of the quarterback as if he were a prospect entering the NFL draft.

“I was very impressed with everything,” Turner said. “And watching him here today, I was very impressed with his accuracy, his quick release, and his arm strength, and on film I was very impressed with his decision-making.”

The Bears, who boast that they “come off the bus running the ball,” won’t dramatically alter their philosophy on offense. But having a quarterback like Cutler obviously will result in some adjustments.

“We’re going to run our offense,” Turner said. “We’ve got everything in our offense to take advantage of his capabilities. It’s just a matter of the emphasis. We’ll change some things there with him.

“That’s one thing as a coach that you always try to do and I’m always trying to do is maximize the talents of our players, not just the quarterback but [tight end] Greg Olsen, the wide receivers, the running backs with [Matt] Forte and the things he can do, and we’ll do the same thing with Jay. 

"We’ll run our offense, but we’ll emphasize the things that he can do really well.”