Jay Cutler cleared to practice, but not to play on Sunday

Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler has been cleared to begin practicing on a limited basis, but his availability for this Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings is still pending.

Cutler will have to be checked out and cleared by an independent neurologist before he's allowed to play in the game. The first step was passing the baseline tests administered by the Chicago medical staff, which allows him to practice tomorrow.

Interesting to note, this is where the 49ers Alex Smith was last week, before ultimately not being cleared for the Monday Night game. There has been more time that passed between Cutler's concussion and Smith's, so at this point it's just speculation.

Greg Rosenthal of NFL.com believes that Cutler will play this Sunday;

It's a very good sign for Cutler's availability that the team let him meet with the media. They normally wouldn't do that unless Cutler was expected to start.

Reading between the lines, we'd be surprised at this point if Cutler wasn't starting Sunday against the Vikings.

It was also reported that Chicago Bears DE Shea McClellin was cleared for practice as well.