Jay Cutler plans to resume practicing on Thursday, and he doesn’t think the rib injury sustained in Monday night’s 13-7 win over the Detroit Lions on a sack by Ndamukong Suh will be a hindrance when the Chicago Bears host the Carolina Panthers on Sunday at Soldier Field.

In fact, Cutler says “I’ll be good to go by Thursday.”

“Actually, I know I’m not gonna have any problems,” Cutler said Tuesday on ESPN 1000’s “The Jay Cutler Show." “Tomorrow is more of a mental day for us coming off a Monday night game. So we’ll have a hard Thursday, Friday, and a little bit of a work day on Saturday before the game. We’ve got another day off kind of tomorrow, more (of a) mental (practice).”

Cutler suffered the injury with 5:06 left in the first half Monday on an 8-yard sack by Suh. With his right arm and elbow pinned against Cutler’s helmet, Suh slammed the quarterback backward to the ground, resulting in the injury.

Cutler said Suh’s “knee and the ball got caught on my ribs, and that’s what I slammed down on,” adding that “I knew on the way down it wasn’t going to be pretty.”

Writhing in pain immediately after the play, Cutler stayed on the field for a few minutes before walking off on his own power, with backup Jason Campbell entering in relief. Campbell scrambled for a 5-yard gain on the next play.

Then on third down, Cutler came back out on the field, drawing loud applause from the crowd in a moment the quarterback described as “cool.”

“To go back in the game and see the fans’ appreciation, it doesn’t happen often but that was fun,” Cutler said.

The day after, Cutler maintained that Suh’s hit was clean despite teammate Brandon Marshall describing the play as “dirty” Tuesday morning on ESPN’s First Take. Cutler doesn’t expect to need painkilling medication to play Sunday against the Carolina Panthers, and insisted he tries “to stay clear of them as much as possible.”

“I’m just tight,” Cutler said, when asked whether he still felt discomfort. “Everyday movements I’m alright. When I have to throw on Thursday it’s gonna be a little bit tight. Not taking anything this week, I’ll be good to go on Sunday.”