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.

What are your thoughts on the Bears signing Jay Cutler to a two-year contract extension through 2013? Why was it something the Bears wanted to do given that his original deal ran through 2011?

General manager Jerry Angelo looks on as Bears quarterback Jay Cutler answers a question at his introductory press conference April 3 at Halas Hall.

Jay’s agent, Bus Cook, approached us on numerous occasions about doing something with Jay's contract. We told him at the time of the trade that our intent was to do nothing during the season. Saying that, our point person, Cliff Stein, felt that Bus had some good workable concepts that might benefit everyone concerned. As I've always said, in negotiations, finding that common ground is the challenge. Cliff saw an opportunity for everyone concerned to have a possible win/win situation. Given the uncertainty of the CBA and our present situation, the timing was right for all of us. Now we have clarity going forward in terms of continuing to build and/or reshape our team as needed.

What have you seen from Jay in his first five games with the Bears?

He’s a playmaker. The one thing we know about the quarterback is that he’s going to touch the ball 99 percent of the time. If it weren’t for the wildcat, I would say 100 percent of the time. It starts there, and we all understand the value of that position all too well here in Chicago. He’s a playmaker, and most of the time the plays turn out to be pretty good.

The Bears seemingly outplayed the Falcons Sunday night, but failed to take advantage of opportunities on both sides of the ball. What’s the key to rebounding from such a disappointing loss?

You’ve got to take the lessons learned in terms of your mistakes and get those corrected. It just reaffirms the point that you can’t have turnovers and you don’t beat yourself. That’s got to be your mentality when you go into any game, and this one wasn’t any different. In my opinion, it’s not so much about the opponent as it is about making sure that you’re doing what you can do best and again, don’t beat yourself. And when I say that, sometimes you want to do something and you’re not able to do it. In that case, you have to adjust to something else and make that your focal point. It’s tough when you lose, but it’s probably a little bit tougher when you beat yourself. The Falcons are a good football team. We knew that going into Atlanta. But unfortunately we made some mistakes at the most inopportune times and they did what they needed to do to win the game.

How concerned are you with the Bears running game and how confident are you that it will perform as consistently well as you would like?

I don’t want to get so far down the path on the running game that we lose sight of the big picture. The big picture is that you’ve got to move the football. There are a lot of good offenses in this league that aren’t running the football effectively, but they’re throwing the ball very well. So if that’s what you have to do to move the football, then that’s what you do. You can look at teams like the Patriots, the Colts and the Chargers. You find alternative ways to move the ball, and that’s the bottom line. On defense, the stat that matters most is ‘points allowed’. When you look at offense, naturally you want a balanced attack. You want to be able to run and throw equally well and you want to be able to strive to have a balanced attack. But that doesn’t mean you can’t be effective on offense if you’re not able to do both. What matters most on offense is moving the football and getting on the scoreboard.

What are your expectations for Gaines Adams this season and beyond?

Naturally we’re expecting the impact on third down. That’s his forte. That’s why we brought him in here, and he fits our scheme. So it’s not like we’re trying to develop a guy and/or evaluate a player. We know what he can do, and he’s done it in this league. We traded a second-round pick for him, and if you look at him like he’s a second-round pick, it’s a tremendous value for us. He’s 26 years old, and he’s got four years left on his contract, including this year, just like a 2009 second-round pick would have.