Thread: Tues bear practice and injury notes

Smith vows Bears' offense will be more balanced

By Brad Biggs

There is a reason why Lovie Smith was quick to say a week ago that you won't hear him saying the Bears get off the bus running any longer.

Smith signed off on the game plan in Sunday's 23-20 loss to the Seattle Seahawks that included a nearly 4:1 ratio of passes to running plays. That doesn't mean that is the way the head coach wants it to be moving forward.

"Kind of went over the game a little bit (Sunday) on things that went wrong," Smith said. "It looks the same today after we watched the video. Offensively, didn't get anything done. Third downs have really hurt us as much anything. When you can't keep drives going, when you have short drives, it's really hard to get a good flow going. We have to be able to do that.

"Realize we have to have more balance on the offensive side of the football and we plan on doing that. I know the sacks, we've taken too many sacks. We haven't established the run the way we'd like to. We realize all of those things."
The Bears ran the ball three times on the game's opening drive and then quarterback Jay Cutler handed the ball off just nine times the rest of the game. The Bears were one-dimensional and it played into what the Seahawks wanted to do defensively: blitz them off the edge.

The Bears never adjusted to the pressure coming off the edges and Cutler was sacked six times giving him a league-high 23 despite missing one and a half games.

Smith, who no longer serves as his own defensive coordinator, was asked specifically how much input he has in what's going on offensively during the game.

"As head football coach I'd like to think I have input on everything that's going on, and I do," he said. "We all went in with that game plan feeling good about it, Mike (Martz) and everybody else. We didn't execute the game plan the way we wanted to. But I'm behind everything that we've done offensively and am excited about the direction we're going to continue to go from there."

So Smith signed off on a 4:1 ratio of pass calls to run calls?

That's what we did, so we're going to stay with that plan," he said. "Sometimes the plan changes during the course of a game. We're not happy with what happened, but not going to sit here now ... it's pretty easy in hindsight to say we wish we would have done this a little bit better. As I started off early on, I said we need to have balance, more balance, and that's what we'll do."

Asked what he had in mind when he refers to balance, Smith said 50-50. We'll see if they can achieve that starting Sunday when the Washington Redskins visit Soldier Field.

Where's the rush?

The Bears failed to sack quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and hit him only once, according to the official stats.
Defensive end Israel Idonije lamented missed chances, including his own.

''You've got to finish,'' Idonije said. ''We had opportunities up front.''

Added Smith: ''[Hasselbeck's] a pretty good player, too, but we're not pleased with where our rush is.''

Warner the mentor

Former St. Louis Rams quarterback Kurt Warner told ESPN 1000 on Monday that he would be willing to mentor quarterback Jay Cutler if his schedule allows. He is a contestant on ABC's ''Dancing with the Stars.''

''I'm always looking to help out younger guys, and if there's any way I can mentor them or give them some direction ... maybe in a situation like this where I'm familiar with the system, I'm familiar with Mike,'' Warner said. ''I understand aspects, [and] I'd always be open to helping Jay out or helping other guys around the league. It's that fine line. It's not that I can go in and cure anything, but sometimes you can understand the communication process, how you think from the quarterback position, and I've reached out a number of times and just said, ''I'm available if Jay or other guys in the league want to talk to me.' ''

Originally Posted by irishways

Cutler should take up Warner on his offer. Warner is a HOF QB that played this system with less physical tools.

agreed, its one of those 'why not?".. can' hurt anything, and can only help. Sounds like Warner has eyes on Coaching one day.. And this may be a nice intro into it..Either they hit it off and can be a good thing or at worst don't get along and its a 1 phone call deal..

''I'm always looking to help out younger guys, and if there's any way I can mentor them or give them some direction ... maybe in a situation like this where I'm familiar with the system, I'm familiar with Mike,'' Warner said. ''I understand aspects, [and] I'd always be open to helping Jay out or helping other guys around the league. It's that fine line. It's not that I can go in and cure anything, but sometimes you can understand the communication process, how you think from the quarterback position, and I've reached out a number of times and just said, ''I'm available if Jay or other guys in the league want to talk to me.' ''

Is Tice overloading OL with schemes?

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- First-year Bears offensive line coach Mike Tice referenced in August the minimum 37 pass protection schemes he brought to Chicago.

That philosophy sounded encouraging before the start of the regular season, but after another suspect performance by the offensive line in Sunday's 23-20 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, the players up front might be dealing with information overload.

Quarterback Jay Cutler has been sacked 23 times in 4 1/12 games and is on pace to more than double the career-high 35 sacks he suffered in 2009. Cutler was sacked an NFL-record nine times on Oct. 3 against the New York Giants, and one of those hits caused a concussion that kept him out the following week against the Carolina Panthers.

Tice is known to change his protection schemes on a weekly -- and sometimes daily -- basis, a coaching style that could be difficult for a relatively inexperienced group. While one week the offensive tackle is responsible for picking up a blitzing defender coming off the edge, the next week it could be the running back's responsibility.

Shuffling the schemes so frequently -- and sometimes uncomfortably close to kickoff -- could easily lead to the kind of confusion in blitz pickup the Bears showed against New York and Seattle.

Tice emphasized the importance for a thorough game plan before the season.

"You have to carry a lot of protections, because you really think you know what the other guys are going to do, but sometimes you don't know what they are going to do," Tice said in August.

"It could be you throw a protection out on a certain day and say let's not do that, even though that was one of the ones you worked on and it was a major one in your plan. Sometimes you need to go to protections to help other players that might be having an off night. [You may say] let's major in this protection so we can keep the tight end in. All of those things come into play, so you need to carry that many protections."

When a 13-year veteran like Olin Kreutz, who is responsible for making on-field protection calls, is unable to get his teammates on the same page, there is an issue.

No mankins too many hurdles..

Upon Further Review: Offensive line fix?


LAKE FOREST, Ill. – The Bears are up against a tight Tuesday deadline to swing what’s sure to be a complicated deal if they plan to consummate a trade for New England Patriots guard Logan Mankins, who could potentially upgrade the club’s leaky offensive line.

Given the 23 sacks taken by quarterback Jay Cutler in four-and-a-half games, which put him on pace for more than 80 this season, the Bears seriously need solutions.

They’re just not likely to find them by Tuesday’s trade deadline, according to multiple personnel executives around the league, who identified some of the potential snags of a trade while questioning whether Mankins is actually worth what Chicago would have to give up to acquire him.

“What you’ve got to think about is [the fact] guards don’t carry that kind of value,” said one NFC North personnel executive. “You’ve also got to consider you’ve got a quarterback up there in New England [Tom Brady] that gets the ball out quickly. So is he a guy who makes an offensive line much better? Will he still be good on another o-line? Are you willing to pay that price for a guard? New England is not.”

It’s no secret the Bears kicked around the idea of making a move for Mankins ever since the restricted free-agent guard balked at signing New England’s $3.26 million tender. Otherwise, general manager Jerry Angelo wouldn’t be doing his due diligence when it comes to making sure Chicago fields a roster featuring the best talent available.

ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter floated the possibility of the Bears acquiring Mankins in exchange for defensive tackle Tommie Harris and a fourth-round pick, writing that “Chicago gets the help on the offensive line it needs, and New England gets [the] help on the defensive line it needs along with the fourth-round pick it gave up for wide receiver Deion Branch.”

It’s believed the Patriots are looking to receive a first-round pick as compensation in a potential trade, and that Mankins seeks a deal averaging more than $8 million per season. Mankins’ agent, Frank Bauer, revealed to ESPNBoston.com that New England’s final offer to the guard is 20 percent lower than the deal signed by Saints’ guard Jahri Evans, a Pro Bowler, who signed a seven-year contract in May worth $56.7 million, which averages out to a little more than $8 million.

Based on that, the Bears would have to pay Mankins left-tackle money.

“You’ve got to make a deal before you trade for him, otherwise he’s gone at the end of the year,” the NFC North executive said. “It doesn’t make sense to give up something for him and not have a deal. Then, you’re talking about paying tackle money to a guard. You can’t overpay a guard.”

An AFC personnel executive agreed, saying that actually getting a long-term deal done with Mankins would be the Bears’ biggest challenge.

So Mankins’ contractual demands certainly decrease Chicago’s chances of landing him. It’s also well-documented that Angelo has indicated he’s exhausted the funds allotted by ownership to upgrade the talent. In structuring any potential new deal with Mankins, the Bears would need to strongly consider the effect the contract could have on the salary cap once a new collective bargaining agreement is implemented, another NFC executive said.

Without knowing what the new cap could be, the Bears run the risk of signing Mankins to a deal that could potentially force them to unload salaries/talent in the future to stay within the confines of that new cap. The club will already have several hard choices to make in that arena next offseason, considering players such as Olin Kreutz, Anthony Adams, Devin Aromashodu, Desmond Clark, Corey Graham, Caleb Hanie, Brian Iwuh, Patrick Mannelly, Danieal Manning, Nick Roach, Pisa Tinoisamoa and Matt Toeaina are playing in the final years of their deals.

Additionally, draft compensation is an issue. Each of the personnel executives believed a third-round pick (and possibility an additional conditional pick) would be the minimum needed for the Bears to acquire Mankins. Still, that’s probably not the route the club needs to go considering its past, which is rife with it essentially throwing away draft picks in trades. The Bears gave away two first-round picks and a third-rounder to acquire Cutler and a second-round pick for defensive end Gaines Adams.

Prior to that, the Bears traded away three additional picks.

Based on comments made by coach Lovie Smith, the Bears aren’t seeking outside help to fix the offensive line’s myriad problems. Smith thinks the club may have found the best combination to protect Cutler during Sunday’s loss to Seattle.

So help from Mankins likely isn’t on the way.

“I’m hoping we have [found the right combination on the line],” Smith said. “Believe me, each week we haven’t said, ‘New week, let’s try a different combination.’ Injuries have forced us to do it a little bit, but we’re getting guys back healthy right now. So hopefully, we can go with this same line again this week, and just that in itself -- the guys playing together a little more -- will help.”

Tice is known to change his protection schemes on a weekly -- and sometimes daily -- basis, a coaching style that could be difficult for a relatively inexperienced group. While one week the offensive tackle is responsible for picking up a blitzing defender coming off the edge, the next week it could be the running back's responsibility.

Shuffling the schemes so frequently -- and sometimes uncomfortably close to kickoff -- could easily lead to the kind of confusion in blitz pickup the Bears showed against New York and Seattle.

Tice emphasized the importance for a thorough game plan before the season.

"You have to carry a lot of protections, because you really think you know what the other guys are going to do, but sometimes you don't know what they are going to do," Tice said in August.

That's an interesting thought- had not really given much consideration to,, a high powered "O" with alot of shifts being compounded by a Oline, aslo doing multiple shifts sure can lead to alot of the mental mistakes and missed blocking we have seen. Might be time at least for awhile to get back to basics and simplier calls

wshington view:( guess other teams allow players with concussions to not miss time and not a big deal)

Redskins' Cooley played with concussion, later took himself out of game


Washington Redskins tight end Chris Cooley said Monday he suffered a concussion-inducing hit in the second quarter of Sunday night's loss to the Indianapolis Colts, but he kept playing and remained coherent until, after halftime, he felt slow and eventually pulled himself.

Speaking during his weekly appearance on WJFK's "The LaVar Arrington Show with Chad Dukes," Cooley described the process in which he suffered what he considered a "bell-ringer" of a hit, but passed doctors' tests and therefore remained in the game.

"It was right before half, and I came off the field and took a breath and said, 'Wow,' " Cooley said. "And then I went in at halftime and kind of had the idea that I could come back out, get moving around a little bit and feel okay. It wasn't like I, at the time, thought I had a bad concussion.

"I was completely there. I passed all the doctors' tests and stuff, but as I kept playing, it just started to get more and more of a headache, and I was a little bit slow, and I went over to our trainers and just said, 'It's done.' You don't want to risk it."

contin
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...63.html?sub=AR

Rex Grossman looking forward to his return to Chicago


Rex Grossman, the Washington Redskins backup quarterback selected by the Chicago Bears in the first round of the 2003 draft, is looking forward to his return to Soldier Field for Sunday's game against the Bears.

"There's a few guys that I got drafted with that are still there that I talk to; a couple of guys on the coaching staff," Grossman, who played six seasons for that franchise, said Monday at Redskins Park. "I spent six years there and felt like that was home for a long time. It's gonna be good to see everybody."
In 2006, his only full season as an NFL starter, Grossman had a career year while leading the Bears to Super Bowl XLI. He started all 16 games and completed 54.6 percent of his passes for 3,193 yards, with 23 touchdowns and 20 interceptions. He had a 73.9 passer rating.

"That was my only full season there," Grossman said. "I had a couple of injuries before that season, and then didn't play much after that season. That was an unbelievable year. We had a lot of good things happen. And to be able to experience that with a bunch of teammates, the coaching staff, and even the city, really, it was a special thing. ... It was probably the best year of my life."
After losing to Indianapolis, Washington needs a victory, Grossman said.
"We need to get to 4-3," said Grossman, who is in his first season with Washington after playing for Houston last season. "We're in a tight division race. It's kind of a crucial point in the season, where people start to separate themselves as a team. This is a big game for us. I'm sure Chicago is thinking the same thing."

Grossman does not envision a warm reception from Bears fans at Soldier Field. "I would expect them to probably boo," he said. "If I don't play, I'm sure I'll hear a little heckling on the sidelines.

"I loved it there. I had a good time. I had a lot great memories. It'll be interesting to go back to play there."