So far, so good says Cutler of bout with diabetes

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- A few minutes into Jay Cutler's on-field news conference Wednesday, he suddenly was interrupted."He's not my favorite person right now!" teammate Brandon Marshall bellowed with a wide grin after sneaking up behind the Denver Broncos quarterback.Cutler, who'd uttered those words earlier this offseason to express his displeasure after Marshall was injured during horseplay, couldn't help but laugh."Anything else?" Cutler asked Marshall playfully.No, fortunately for Cutler, there is nothing else right now.Nearly six weeks after being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, he has had about all he can ask for. That's enough. He has adjusted to the routine of checking his blood-sugar levels with a lancet and making sure a small pump inserted near his abdomen properly is controlling insulin intake.And things finally are settling into a normal routine."I feel fine," he said. "I feel like I did last year at camp."Cutler is back in the high 220-pound range, not far off his 235-pound playing weight. He isn't feeling run down all the time. And, most important, given his profession, he's able to make throws he couldn't late last season."I've gotten everything back," Cutler said after the sixth workout of the team's quarterback camp. "I can definitely feel a difference from March. I've got all of my zip. I can make all the deep throws. It definitely feels good to do that again."He even seems more energized to teammates."It's almost like night and day between right now and the end of last year," receiver Brandon Stokley said.And that includes Cutler's personality. Whether it's the give-and-take with Marshall or just interacting with teammates on a daily basis, Cutler seems to have found his sense of equilibrium."He's not a different person. Jay's Jay," backup quarterback Patrick Ramsey said. "But at the same time, he's easier to be around -- and I don't mean that in a negative way. He's not moody at all. He's himself all the time and doing a good job handling it."Cutler and the Broncos have had time to adjust to his disease and make concessions to it during the comfort of the offseason.The first couple of weeks were "hard," the quarterback admitted.But he has settled into a routine.Having the insulin pump, a small device inserted via catheter, has helped, even if it can be a 24-hour, seven-day hindrance."It keeps me level throughout the day so there's no real peaks or lows," he said. "I like it, for the most part."Many teammates likely aren't even aware of the pump, which is concealed by his shirt and is about the size of an iPod."I asked him about it just to educate myself about it," Ramsey said. "But not in any way, like, 'Wow, what a raw deal,' but to find out what it's for and how he uses it."When the pump is removed, which Cutler will do once games begin, he'll prick his finger with a lancet to test his blood-sugar levels, probably before games and at halftime.He has discovered in the past few weeks he can get through practices without obsessing over the numbers."My levels are pretty steady right now. Everything's fine. I feel fine at practice. . . . It's been a good dry run," Cutler said. "I don't anticipate any problems in the future."The biggest current change, other than monitoring himself and watching his diet, has come from public interaction.He has received a lot of e-mail, particularly from children, which he has found inspiring. Cutler plans to reach out to fellow athletes with experience with diabetes, perhaps later this summer. But for now, he's trying to make sure he handles his on-field chores unabated.And he knows full well that one good slump can wipe out all those glad tidings."If we go out and go 0-4, I'm going to get blamed for it whether I have diabetes or not," Cutler said.Cutler still managed to throw for 3,497 yards and 20 touchdowns with a 63.6 percent completion rate in his first full year as an NFL starter, even though his weight steadily dropped to a low of 202 pounds by season's end.A simple blood test in mid- April got him back on the right track -- and smiling again."When I heard about it, I wanted to see if he was the guy I expected him to be. And he's been exactly what I expected and gone through this like it's no problem," cornerback Champ Bailey said. "Who knows what he deals with behind closed doors, but in the public eye, he's been perfect."(Contact Lee Rasizer of the Rocky Mountain News at rasizerl(at)rockymountainnews.com.)