Jay Cutler has said that the signing of Brandon Marshall has forced him to raise his game.

The wide receiver is in his first season with the Chicago Bears, having joined from the Denver Broncos.

The Bears quarterback told the franchise's website: "I don't want to disappoint him, so I have to raise my level of game.

"I don't want to miss him. I don't want to miss opportunities for him to make a big play. But you need 11 of those guys. At the end of the day, they're going to do whatever it takes to get the job done. They don't want to leave a play out there on the field."

Cutler and Marshall previously played together at the Broncos between 2006 and 2008.