All Bears fullback Evan Rodriguez can do is sit and wait.

Bears quarterback Jay Cutler admitted on his radio show Monday that offensive players were "a little frustrated" with their performance in a 23-22 victory over the Carolina Panthers.

But on ESPN 1000's Waddle & Silvy Show, Cutler also delicately danced around the latest analysis of his body language and on-field exchanges.

As he was coming off the field Sunday at Soldier Field, cameras captured Cutler muttering what appeared to be an expletive as fans cascaded him and his teammates with boos.

"I think the Chicago fans know it was a lousy performance," Cutler said on ESPN 1000.

In the first half, Cutler was four of nine for 40 yards with one interception and a lost fumble. He also was sacked six times.

"I mean I'd boo us too," Cutler said after Sunday's game. "I told those guys it was a boo-worthy performance, if you will.

"It was pathetic, offensively, what we put out there."

But Cutler stepped up in the fourth quarter, rallying the Bears from a 12-point deficit. He completed 12 of 14 passes for 106 yards with a touchdown in the fourth quarter, bolstering his standing as the league's best quarter in the final 15 minutes of a game.

Still, Cutler wasn't pleased.

He said Monday that offensive players need to do more, including himself.

"It'll take time for the offense to develop," he said. "We're winning games -- defense is keeping us in it."

Carolina Panthers perennial Pro Bowl receiver Steve Smith, who averaged 149 yards per game against the Bears, had seven catches for 118 yards on Sunday.

All of those were with Bears cornerback Tim Jennings on him.

But the only one who got in the end zone Sunday was Jennings -- and Smith was a bit peeved afterwards.

"I slipped, sir. I slipped," Smith said to reporters after the game. "The ball was thrown. He picked it. That what-if game, and this and that, that requires energy that I just don't have right now to go through.

"That was the best play he made all game on me," Smith said. "But it was a key moment in the game, changed the momentum. I know you want to pump him up. But I've been kicking his ass every time I come up here. And today wasn't no different. Do you disagree?"

Well, certainly Jennings would. He was complimentary of Smith.

"It's very important when you got a Pro Bowl receiver like that's been playing the game at a high level like that his whole career," Jennings said. "He's going to make some plays. But I had to have the mentality that I got to stay up and stay playing aggressive and minimize his playmaking ability."

Regarding his pick-six, Jennings matter-of-factly said, "I had an opportunity to make a play on the ball, the quarterback threw it, and I was able to catch it and take it to the house."

Wide receiver Alshon Jeffery and defensive tackles Amobi Okoye and Matt Toeaina head the Bears' inactive list for Sunday's game against the Carolina Panthers.

Jeffery is out with a broken hand. With Okoye and Toeaina inactive, defensive tackle Nate Collins is active for the first time this season. Collins was impressive in training camp, but has not been active since coming off the suspended list after Week 1.

The other inactives are wide receiver Dane Sanzenbacher, guard/center Edwin Williams, tight end Brody Eldridge and defensive end Cheta Ozougwu.

With Sanzenbacher and Jeffery inactive, the Bears will have just four wide receivers against the Panthers: Brandon Marshall, Earl Bennett, Devin Hester and special-teamer Eric Weems.

Sherrick McManis, who missed Monday night's game against the Lions with a hip injury, is active. So is Zack Bowman, who took McManis' spot on special teams against the Lions.

Maybe Jay Cutler is really tough or his ribs aren't as bruised and battered as first thought. Either way, it was a good sign that the Bears quarterback fully participated in practice on Thursday.

And it was a full practice for the Bears.

The Bears defense is off to a brilliant start this season. But they certainly aren't overlooking the struggling Carolina Panthers offense.

"Last year, that was probably our worst game of the season," Bears defensive end Julius Peppers said, referring to his current team's 34-29 victory over his former team. "We really didn't play well at all against those guys last year. They really took it to us. We're actually looking forward to getting back out there and getting another chance at redemption against them."

Peppers said the Panthers' offense "outplayed" the Bears defense.

"They pretty much did whatever they wanted to do," he said.

Peppers is right; the Panthers had a franchise-record 543 yards with then rookie quarterback Cam Newton completing 27 of 46 passes for 374 yards and running for another 35 yards. All told, he accounted for three touchdowns.

In addition, Steve Smith had eight catches for 181 yards and the Panthers piled up 169 rushing yards.

Newton appears to be in a sophomore slump, with nine turnovers and struggling in the fourth quarter of games.

Is Gabe Carimi getting any better?

The former first-round draft pick who missed most of last season with a knee injury is leading the team with eight penalties, including two holding calls against the Lions on Monday night.

It's always difficult for us laymen to judge offensive linemen, but especially in Carimi's case. For one thing, what's the measuring stick? Should the expectations be high because he's a first-round draft pick? Or should they be low because he missed most of last season with a knee injury?

Asked to evaluate Carimi's performance this season, Bears offensive coordinator Mike Tice used 271 words to say five: ''He's a work-in-progress.''

''I told you when we moved Gabe to the right side [that] Gabe -- not to insult him -- is not the type of athlete I see that should be on the left side. When Gabe's plays are ugly, they're ugly because of that reason.

''And, he wants to kill guys. He gets himself so overextended over his feet because he's trying to knock guys out, that the second move -- on the [first] holding call, on the down block -- he was going to murder that guy.

''He gets himself out of whack because he's being a little overly aggressive. So, we're going to settle him down, make sure he brings his feet with him on some of these blocks where it does look ugly or he's getting those penalties. But he plays extremely hard. They're all playing hard right now, but he plays very hard. But his ugly plays are ugly.''

Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera enjoys watching tape of the 2012 Bears defense.

"Kind of neat to see those guys flying around," he said.

Especially since he worked with some of those players, including linebackers Lance Briggs and Brian Urlacher and cornerback Charles Tillman and defensive end Israel Idonije. But Rivera said this year's defense could actually be better than the 2006 unit he was the defensive coordinator of.

"Compared to the 2006 one that we went to the Super Bowl with, I think this group can be better. I really do," Rivera said. "Because the front four is probably better (than 2006), and it really begins with those guys up front."

"I think their front four can rush as well as anyone in the league. They can get after the quarterback with just the four guys."

Rivera added that the linebackers play downhill football and that the defensive backs are "opportunistic."

"You look at what Charles Tillman does, and the way he's redefining stripping and knocking the football out," Rivera said. "It's really a true testament to that defensive philosophy that's been there for quite some time.

Continuity, though, is also a key to the success of the unit, Rivera said.

"They've been doing it a long time. And the rest of the guys pick up off their lead," Rivera said. "It's an exciting bunch to watch. I enjoy watching tape as we break it down against these guys, and we have some common opponents."

Jay Cutler says he'll be good to go for Sunday's game against the Carolina Panthers. The only question is just how good that will be.

Cutler bounced back after suffering bruised ribs on a vicious -- but legal -- takedown by Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh in the Bears' 13-6 victory on Monday Night Football. But he wasn't sharp. Cutler was 7-of-15 for 77 yards and a 64.8 passer rating after suffering the injury.

''It was really tight,'' Cutler said Wednesday at Halas Hall. ''Just getting my backside through the ball. I wasn't kind of coming through exactly how I wanted to. I thought Mike did a good job of managing. I missed some throws I'd like to have back, but that's part of it.''

Before he was introduced Tuesday night at his charity event, Brandon Marshall had a video played featuring prominent sports personalities Warren Sapp of NFL Network and Stephen A. Smith of ESPN.

In the clips, Sapp calls Marshall a "retard" and Smith says that Marshall has multiple personalities.

Marshall has been clinically diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, which affects at least 14 million in the United States.

"Our goal is to break these stigmas," Marshall told the crowd at Lucky Strike. "Borderline Personality Disorder is the most stigmatized disorder. I think it's a shame.

"If we raise awareness, we will see a change in our communities and in our lives."

The fundraiser Tuesday night was for Project Borderline, Marshall's non-profit. Teammates Jay Cutler, Brian Urlacher, Devin Hester, Johnny Knox and Israel Idonije were showed up, along with other sports celebrities like Gale Sayers and Dan Hampton.

"I was supposed to go to the Bieber concert tonight," Urlacher jokingly said. "He does a good job in the community. It's a good cause, and it's Brandon."

As Jay Cutler continued to publicly downplay the hard hit by Ndamukong Suh Monday night, Bears receiver Brandon Marshall insisted the Detroit Lions defensive tackle crossed a line.

"Listen, I'm around Jay every day, and I'm going to stand up to this. Jay doesn't want to create any controversy," Marshall told the Sun-Times Tuesday night from his Bowling for Borderline event at Lucky Strike. "Was it the worst hit? No, it wasn't the worst hit. But I've never seen someone play the game like that.

"For a wrestling move to be accepted on the football field is ridiculous. It was illegal. It wasn't borderline illegal. It wasn't suspect. It was illegal. It's bad football."

Tuesday morning, a league spokesman said the play was legal and "not a foul."

During his weekly appearance on "The Waddle & Silvy Show" on WMVP-AM (1000), Cutler said his bruised ribs wouldn't hold him back from playing next Sunday against the Carolina Panthers and again defended Suh's play.

"It was a tough hit,'' Cutler said. ''He caught me just right. It was an awkward fall more than anything and kind of caught me on his knee and the ball a little bit. I'll be all right."

Asked why he was so insistent on speaking out, Marshall said he was defending the "integrity of the game."

"But it does hit home harder when it is your buddy. We don't want to see that," he said.

Marshall pointed to teammate Johnny Knox as an example. Knox is trying to recover after major surgery following a vicious hit to the back last season.

"You see what he has to do everyday to get his body back in a position to play again," Marshall said. "You see guys going down every year. You pull for guys. You don't rejoice when you see guys go down."

Bears quarterback Jay Cutler, who suffered bruised ribs and was temporarily knocked out of Monday night's victory over the Detroit Lions when he was sacked by Ndamukong Suh, said he's feeling the effects of the hit but will be ''good to go'' for Sunday's game against the Carolina Panthers at Soldier Field.

''It was a tough hit,'' Cutler said Tuesday on ''The Jay Cutler Show,'' his weekly appearance on ''The Silvy & Waddle Show'' on WMVP-AM. ''He caught me just right. It was an awkward fall more than anything and kind of caught me on his knee and the ball a little bit. I'll be all right.''

Cutler said he does not plan to take any painkillers this week. ''I'm just tight,'' he said. ''Everyday movements I'm all right. We have to throw on Thursday, s it'll be a little bit tight. I'll be good to go by Sunday.''