Brian Hoyer will start for Bears against the Lions

Brian Hoyer will be the Bears’ starting quarterback for a Week 4 showdown with the Detroit Lions. The team says Jay Cutler will be inactive for the second straight game.

Hoyer was solid, if unspectacular, in last week’s loss to the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football. He passed for 317 yards while slinging a pair of touchdowns and zero interceptions, but Chicago only scored 17 points in a game decided before halftime.

Cutler hasn’t played since the second half of his team’s week two defeat against the Philadelphia Eagles. He sprained the thumb on his throwing hand in the opening game of the season.

Even a fully healthy Cutler will have to compete for his job. When John Fox was asked about the veteran quarterback’s return, the coach’s answer failed to display confidence in his former starter.

"I don’t think there are any givens, and that’s no indictment on anybody," said Fox. "This is a day-to-day, week-to-week, what-have-you-done-for-me-lately league and so we’re just trying to get the best 11 guys out there regardless of the position to where we can play a full 60 minutes and get a victory."

Cutler was completing nearly 61 percent of his passes for 373 yards and had thrown just one touchdown to go with a pair of interceptions through approximately one and a half games. Hoyer, by comparison, has completed nearly 64 percent of his passes for 395 yards, two touchdowns, and zero interceptions in a similar amount of field time.

However, neither passer has been able to lead Chicago to victory; the Bears are 0-3 to start the 2016 season.