Harris should provide lift

Harris should provide lift

Oft-ailing defensive tackle appears healthy as Bears look for boost from defensive line

By Brad Biggs, Tribune reporter
8:10 p.m. CDT, August 5, 2010
BOURBONNAIS— The Bears are counting on being better on defense this season but they're not putting all the burden on Julius Peppers and a healthy Brian Urlacher to accomplish that task.

Fact is, the defense had moments of mediocrity before Urlacher was lost for the season in the opener last year. There is no question he should help a lot, especially in the base Cover-2, but he can't do it alone. As freakish as Peppers is, he isn't a one-man wrecking crew.

The newly incarnated Lovie Smith defense now under the direction of Rod Marinelli needs to be better across the board, starting up front.

One week into training camp, one reason for hope could be the biggest surprise at Olivet Nazarene. It doesn't have anything to do with a newcomer, shift in philosophy or recent discovery. Instead, it's Tommie Harris, the defensive tackle who is entering his seventh season. The Bears completed their ninth practice Thursday and Harris hasn't missed one, something few would have predicted.

After all, Harris has been treated with kid gloves here in recent summers. He was shut down at the beginning of camp last year and finally, tired of being badgered by reporters, offered up that he had undergone offseason left knee surgery. This is the first time since entering 2006 that he hasn't had to rehabilitate from an offseason surgery.

"I would say my confidence is a lot higher than it was," Harris said. "Last year, I had no confidence. I didn't really know what to expect because I didn't practice and I didn't do anything, no minicamp, nothing.

"Basically, it's getting back to knowing your keys, knowing what to do and breaking the game down. That is what I feel like I am able to do now. I can trust in my leg."

In the past, the Bears were mindful of wanting to have a fresh Harris in the fourth quarter of games in November and December. They used that as an explanation for the practice routine he had, which was scaled back during camp and the regular season.

Chicago Bears: Tommie Harris should provide lift - chicagotribune.com

The more I read this good news, the more nervous I get. Please stay healthy, and motivated this year Tommie.

Tommie Harris: Better than I used to be

August, 6, 2010

By Michael C. Wright


CHICAGO -- Bears defensive tackle Tommie Harris agrees wholeheartedly with the assumption he’s not the same Pro Bowl-caliber player he used to be.

Just not in the way most would expect.

“I definitely feel I’m not the same player I used to be. I’m better; much better,” Harris said. “I’m mentally stronger, everything. The game has slowed down for me to where I can see it at a whole different level. So I’m better. That’s how I definitely feel.”

Entering his seventh season, Harris has missed just seven regular-season games throughout his career. But various leg ailments (knees and hamstring) in recent years contributed to declines in production and sporadic participation in regular-season practices.

But so far at camp, Harris hasn’t missed a single session; even with coach Lovie Smith giving several veterans customary days off to rest. Harris attributes his improved health to taking a smarter approach to preparation.

“He’s had good, solid work,” defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli said. “The biggest thing to getting better is showing up every day, and he’s in there. He’s getting padded up every single day, and in this game, practice is everything. They key is lining up and getting the work, and he’s doing that.”

Broach the subject of the upcoming season being one in which Harris has something to prove, and listen as agitation creeps into his voice. For Harris, it’s about proving to himself that he can return to previous form.

Because with the addition of defensive end Julius Peppers and the return of linebacker Brian Urlacher, Harris knows the Bears have a prime opportunity to erase the ineptitude of a year ago.

“I can’t talk about it in articles. I’ve got to go do it,” he said. “I’ve worked hard for this, and I’ve worked even harder to get back to that old player; that Pro Bowl player. That’s where I’m going. I’ve learned so much more through injury about how to be that person. At first, when I was doing the Pro Bowls and all that stuff, that stuff just came. I didn’t really know how to practice. I didn’t know how to do anything. But now that I know how, I’m just sharpening my knife every day. I don’t go out beating on my body, doing all this crazy stuff. I know what, and how to work on things each day.”

The Bears are counting on the extra work paying dividends.

There are some reports from reporters at camp that are a bit troubling though. They say that while Harris looks good, he isn't looking good. That he hasn't really beaten people off the line. If that is true (as was reported on various news outlets) then I am worried. If he can't beat the crap our O-Line is, then I am not optimistic.

Hopefully, if that is true, he does start to improve.

Watching tommie practice, he wasn't dominating the line of scrimmage like peppers was. He looked like a slightly above average lineman out there.

Hope for the best expect the worst. Bring him along slowly and see. Been burned too many times by hearing the same rhetoric. Start preparing other guys just in case he can't stay healthy.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dabears54

“I definitely feel I’m not the same player I used to be. I’m better; much better,” Harris said. “I’m mentally stronger, everything. The game has slowed down for me to where I can see it at a whole different level. So I’m better. That’s how I definitely feel.”

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If this is him being better, I'd sure as hell hate to see what he thinks would be worse.

I don't really care about THarris anymore, he's about the 4th or 5th best DL player on this team. I'd rather see Melton, Wooten, Grant, Toe out there with Peppers/Izzy.

All we heard all off season from some posters, was how Tommie did not have off season surgery for the first time in years. Those of us who took a wait and see approach were called out and labeled as being negative.

Looks like we were all being realists afterall. We were right to doubt him all along. Glad I never changed my tune on him.

Bump