Bears taking a different approach to offseason

February 9, 2010 1:31 PM | No Comments

By Brad Biggs

The Bears won't be among the first NFL teams to conduct minicamp this offseason.

An unofficial schedule has been set up to provide an opportunity for players to learn Mike Martz's new offensive system before they have to put on gear for minicamp and get a weekend crash course on the practice fields at Halas Hall.

Nothing has been announced or officially set, but one source with knowledge of the situation said the offseason program is set to begin March 29. The earliest teams can start offseason programs is March 15, and no offseason program can extend beyond 14 weeks. Typically, the Bears have not used the entire 14 weeks. That could change this year.
Minicamp is tentatively scheduled to be held May 21-23. The Bears are expected to have a rookie minicamp the weekend after the April draft. Organized team activities (OTAs), which are capped at 14 for each team, will run from June 2-24, according to the source.

The offseason program and OTA's are voluntary. The only mandatory element of the offseason program is minicamp.

Coach Lovie Smith started the offseason program with minicamp last March. He wanted to instill an attitude of immediacy and reasoned that the best way to get the "bad taste" of the 2008 season out the Bears' mouths was to get back to work as soon as possible.

That didn't pay off and the Bears wound up practicing with Kyle Orton rather than Jay Cutler, who was acquired in early April. Now, the team will have more than a month-and-a-half to digest the teachings of Martz and the new members of the offensive staff, including line coach Mike Tice, before minicamp.