The Chicago Bears have lost three of their last four games. But the worst part is probably about to come as the Bears will miss Jay Cutler for the next four to six weeks because the starting quarterback tore a muscle in his groin during their game vs. the Washington Redskins last Sunday.

According to Michael Wright of ESPN.COM, the injury will force the Bears to use veteran QB Josh McCown as their starter and then will sign Jordan Palmer to serve as his back-up in lieu of Cutler in the next month or so.

Cutler suffered the injury on a sack by Washington nose tackle Chris Baker. Watch the play below:

The timing couldn't come at a worse time for the Bears. After starting the year 3-0, they lost to the Detroit Lions (40-32) in Week 4; to the New Orleans Saints (26-18) in Week 5 and the Redskins (45-41) on Sunday. Their sole win in this stretch came against the lowly New York Giants which they beat 27 to 21.

Before the injury, Cutler has had a respectable season with 1,658 passing yards (146-of-225 or 64.9 per cent completion) and 12 touchdowns (9th overall in the NFL). His best performance for the year was a 2 TD, 358 passing yards output in the loss against the Saints.

Cutler has already endured two major injuries in crucial stretches of a Chicago season in the past. In 2010, he had a knee injury in the NFC championship game; and in 2011, he had a fractured thumb in the latter part of the regular season. In both times, the Bears struggled without their starting QB.

Cutler’s temporary replacement, 34-year-old McCown, finished with 204 yards on 14 of 20 passes with a touchdown in the Washington game—his sole appearance for the 2013 season. The nine-year veteran has also played for the Arizona Cardinals, Oakland Raiders and Carolina Panthers in previous NFL stints. The highest QB rating he has recorded is at 74.9 in nine games with the Cardinals in 2005.