The Chicago Bears don’t have to worry about Matt Barkley making his first NFL start against the Minnesota Vikings next Monday night. Instead, they’ll turn the ball back over to Jay Cutler, who has missed the past five games with a thumb injury, head coach John Fox announced today.

Brian Hoyer, who started in Cutler’s place the past five games, suffered a broken forearm in the loss to the Green Bay Packers last Thursday and was placed on injured reserve on Monday. He is expected to miss about eight weeks but could be done for the season.

We can hear Bears fans now. Oh … yay.

Yes, the excitement level for the Bears is perhaps at the lowest it has been in some time, and while some of that is to blame for Chicago Cubs mania, it also is a direct reflection of the Bears’ 1-6 start and the constant injuries at quarterback.

Of course, the conspiracy theorists will laugh at the timing of the move — boom, Hoyer goes down and suddenly Cutler is ready to go again. Funny how that works. There had been talk previous to that about how Cutler maybe hadn’t been the preferred choice among some Bears coaches, but whatever the situation is now, they’re happier to have him than Barkley.

Cutler now gets a chance — the last chance? — to help himself and his team. He was up and down in his seven quarters of action before getting hurt against the Philadelphia Eagles, which clearly is not enough of a sample size to make judgment on this season. But that said, it was remarkably similar in feel to much of his Bears career, which is to say splashed with greatness here and there but overall unsuccessful and ultimately unsatisfying.

The Bears face the Vikings, owners of the best defense in the NFL, in Week 8, which is followed by the bye. The schedule softens after that, with a few last-place teams and only two of their four remaining road games requiring a time-zone change, but they still face the Vikings and Packers one more time each. And this is the kind of game coming up where Cutler has been terrorized in the past. Great pass rushes have hurt the Bears more than once during Cutler’s tenure, after all.

Can Cutler give the Bears any spark? Does it matter? This could be the final run for both him and wide receiver Alshon Jeffery in Chicago. Cutler’s contract is favorable to where the Bears could cut or trade him in the offseason without any significant financial hit, and Jeffery once more is a free agent whom the Bears might not opt to keep this time around.

They both can help themselves by rekindling their connection. And winning a few games down the stretch could ensure that Fox doesn’t have to fear ownership making a coaching change in the offseason, although that still doesn’t feel likely either way as things stand right now.

Bears fans get their starting quarterback back. Usually, that’s a good thing. And in this case, it’s certainly an upgrade over Barkley, who was terrible in the Packers loss in his first regular-season action in almost two years. So why does it feel like a “here we go again” situation for the Bears? Because it is.

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!

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