We learned everything we needed to know about Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler on Tuesday. During an appearance on ESPN 1000 , Cutler was asked whether there was one throw he wished he could take back from his disastrous performance in Thursday's 23-10 loss to the Green Bay Packers. Cutler's response revealed a capacity for compartmentalizing that should be the envy of anyone with aspirations for emotional and social detachment.

After pausing for a moment, Cutler chose a pass that receiver Brandon Marshall dropped in the end zone early in the third quarter as the Bears trailed 13-0.

"I wish I had that one back," Cutler said. "The picks? You can have those. The one I would take back was the one to Brandon off his hands. ... I put it up probably just a half-count quicker than I wanted to. Felt a little bit of pressure and put it up. 'B' will tell you it was a catchable ball. But I could have made it 10 times easier for him, just putting it up a little to the left and holding him up a little bit. He crushed the guy on his route, and that could have made it easier on him. ... That could have changed the complexion of the game."

The picks? You can have those.

Here you have a quarterback who turned in one of the worst performances in the past 10 years of NFL play, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, glossing over his four interceptions as if they were merely a function of the game flow. Instead, Cutler suggested his biggest regret was not fine-tuning a still-catchable touchdown pass that would have left the Bears facing a second-half deficit.

Tuesday was Cutler's first public appearance since a postgame interview Thursday night, and to me it confirmed a remarkable world view that aligns independently from ordinary human nature. Cutler can toss aside a four-interception, seven-sack performance and criticize a nuanced improvement to a play on which he had already done his job. He can suggest that "your opinion does not matter to us" when it's negative or critical, as he did Tuesday, but claim "it really meant a lot" when several fans approached him over the weekend to offer encouragement.

And, perhaps most amazing of all, Cutler can insist with an apparently straight face that he did not lose his composure at any point during what sure appeared to be a wild, but not atypical performance. That assessment apparently covered his sideline confrontation with left tackle J'Marcus Webb. Indeed, Cutler repeatedly blamed the media for escalating the issue and making it "bigger than all of us expected," adding, "That's what you have to expect from the media."

Cutler also added, "Oh, I think I had my composure. I think I had my composure the whole game. Under the circumstances, we moved the ball well at times. Obviously some mistakes on my part, and other guys derailed us at times. Penalties, interceptions, stuff like that. But I had my composure. I knew what I was doing. We were calling the plays, and everything was going smoothly."

If what we saw Thursday night was composed, I would hate to see Cutler when he is upset.