Football analysts on national television debated it, and Chicago's airwaves were filled with Bears fans discussing who the Bears starting quarterback should be.
But for weeks no one at Halas Hall chimed in.
Now we know the decision was made one month ago, when Jay Cutler suffered a high ankle sprain against the Lions.
"The decision was made weeks ago that Jay would start once healthy," Bears head coach Marc Trestman explained Thursday, adding that the decision to sit a hot quarterback like Josh McCown wasn't difficult at all.
"Jay's the quarterback. He's playing on Sunday because he's been released and is 100 percent or certainly close to it," the coach said.
And while armchair quarterbacks called sports talk shows, Cutler didn't pay attention. He and McCown had been told of the plan long ago.
"There's not a debate in this building," Cutler said.
Offensive Coordinator Aaron Kromer echoed the theory starters don't lose their job to injury.
"We believe there's a reason there are starters, and the reason is they've shown in the past that they can have success. And so when a guy gets hurt he gets the opportunity to come back and do it again," he said.
Remind the Bears that McCown was NFC Offensive Player of the week and they'll say it's a team award. And that 103.6 passer rating? They'll point to the play calling and the offense evolving.
"Our players are becoming more familiar with the things we're asking them to do," Trestman said. "We've been fortunate enough to be reasonably healthy with our other 10 guys. We've had a chance to grow and get to know more about each other."
Before getting injured, Cutler was playing at a very high level.
"He was on his way to, I think, a very, very effective season," Trestman reminded.
McCown kept the new car warm, and even gave it a tune-up, but his time is up and it's time to give the keys back.
"I gave him a spare set," Cutler smirked.
