Thread: Wed bear practice and injury notes...

The Bears decided to cut ties with Charles Grant before the veteran defensive lineman ever got a chance to see the field.

Grant signed a one-year, $750,000 deal with the Bears after the team waived Mark Anderson Oct. 5.
Grant's roster spot was taken by rookie Barry Turner, who was elevated from the practice squad. Turner, from Nebraska, was impressive during the preseason.

"I guess the last one in is the first to go," Grant said. "I guess they were looking for something different. I appreciate them bringing me in, but I didn't even get a chance to get on the field."

Defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli said he planned to use Grant as an outside rusher, but the team instead gave rookie Corey Wootton a longer look following Anderson's departure. Grant was inactive for the two games he was here.

Skeptical outlook: Coach Lovie Smith seemed skeptical about the league's decision to enforce helmet-to-helmet hits on defenseless players by suspending players and imposing larger fines.

``You don't want injuries to happen, but they're a part of it," Smith told Jeff Joniak during this week's edition of `Bears Insider' on WBBM-AM 780. "You don't want legal injuries to happen, but there are rules that are in place. As far as how you police them, I don't know what the best way to do that is."

Injury update: Linebacker Lance Briggs has told teammates he plans to play against the Redskins, which is Smith said Monday.

Skins show the way

Coach Shanahan has rebuilt O-line, respects the run

When the Bears shocked the world by acquiring Jay Cutler from the Denver Broncos in March 2009, nobody was more surprised than the Washington Redskins' infantile owner, Daniel Snyder. The rumor at the time was that the Redskins had a press release already written announcing Cutler as their guy.

Washington's trade proposal was a complicated three-team deal that would've sent Jason Campbell, Chris Cooley and a fifth-round pick to the Cleveland Browns, Brady Quinn, LaRon Landry and a first-round pick to Denver and Cutler, Tony Scheffler and a third-round pick to Washington. Snyder would then have dumped Jim Zorn as coach and hired Mike Shanahan a year earlier than he did to reunite him with Cutler.

Instead, the Bears pulled off the blockbuster that sent Kyle Orton, two first-round picks and a third-rounder to Denver for Cutler and a fifth-round pick that turned into wide receiver Johnny Knox.

If the Bears hadn't made that unexpected deal, would they have been able to develop Orton?

Might they have traded for former Mount Carmel star Donovan McNabb, who wound up with the Redskins instead?

The Bears actually looked into trading up for McNabb in 1999. They held the No. 7 pick, but McNabb went second to the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Bears moved down to No. 12, where they took Cade McNown.

And McNabb's backup Sunday against the Bears will be Rex Grossman, whose name will forever be known as Rex Grossman-is-our-quarterback to Bears fans.

Shanahan, of course, is from Franklin Park. Before accepting the job in Washington this year, a league source said he waited to find out Lovie Smith's fate because he would've been interested in the Bears' job. He could've coached the hometown team and his old quarterback prot1/8©g1/8©, too.

Shanahan is an offensive guru, of course, who built a two-time Super Bowl champion in Denver during the 1990s. He might be known for his work with quarterbacks, but he also understands the importance of a running game and the need to build an offensive line as a top priority.

Shanahan overhauled a Redskins line that was allowing sacks at a rate of 10 more per year in each of the last two seasons. He brought back two aging veterans in center Casey Rabach and guard Derrick Dockery and added first-round pick Trent Williams at tackle, traded a mid-round pick for tackle Jammal Brown and signed free-agent guard Artis Hicks from the Minnesota Vikings.

Shanahan used three methods of player acquisition -- the draft, the trade market and free agency -- to get himself a line good enough to hold up the league's 15th-ranked offense.

The Redskins' line has allowed only 14 sacks for a loss of 96 yards as opposed to the Bears' 27 sacks for minus-168 yards.
The Bears' offense has dipped to a season-low 29th ranking in the 32-team league. They have not only allowed the most sacks in the league, but they've allowed seven more than the next-closest team.

One of the players Shanahan cut from Washington, Edwin Williams, will start at right guard for the Bears this week. Without picks in the first and second rounds of the draft, the Bears' moves to improve their line consisted of hiring Mike Tice as offensive line coach and adding Brandon Manumaleuna in free agency. Tice is doing what he can with the bodies available.
Manumaleuna, who needed arthroscopic knee surgery in the offseason, is making more than $6 million this year as part of a five-year, $15 million deal. No block for the buck there.

The other big free-agent signing on offense, running back Chester Taylor, is making $7 million this year to touch the ball an average of seven times a game (41 carries, eight catches).

The hot rumor before the trade deadline was the Bears might make a move for two-time Pro Bowl guard Logan Mankins of the New England Patriots because GM Jerry Angelo is close with Bill Belichick and Mankins and Smith share the same agent. The Patriots never lowered their price of a first- and second-round pick and held on to Mankins.

Originally Posted by BearStuff

I think we should go ahead and cut Chris Williams in favor of another DE. Why wait for the xmas rush?

brilliant! and it never gets old seeing that joke 10X a day!..

Nothing new for Peppers

By Neil Hayeson October 19, 2010 6:56 PM |


Julius Peppers had what may have been his worst game as a Bear against the Seahawks, when the defensive end was credited with just a tackle and an assist, but it wasn't because Seattle was doing anything that other teams hadn't tried before, according to Smith.
"What else can you do to him?," Smith asked. "He gets double teamed each week, he gets chipped, the tight end stays in. He's going to get that each week, so there's nothing new. He's going to have to deal with that. It's part of life for him."

Originally Posted by BearStuff

Brilliant! and it never gets old reading about what the joke of a front office does 10x a day.


Keep Cliff Stein, fire everyone else from Phillips down. They suck.

i guess when people turn any ant hill into mount everest it sure seems that way.

Fricken grant was coming in for the 53rd player on the team , about as big a "non-event" as you can find.. but turning practice Squad moves into a huge deal what happens with practice squad players, just seems a non-event.. they took a look at Grant, he wasn't a fit- so out he goes.. No big deal either way and costs us Zip..

yes, we should ahve gone out and got every name out there , like the other 31 teams did yesteday at the trading deadline.. oh wait...

i was really impressed with how the packers replaced their non-existant running game with those big moves the last week.. how the vikings made those big name signings to shore up their lame and injured secondary and offensive line.. yes the bears sooo much different than other teams..lol

Bears' communication issues now making sense

Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2010
1:06 PM

By John Mullin
CSNChicago.com

While it’s more than apparent that the Bears did not pick up blitzes against the Seattle Seahawks, the reason is more interesting. Coaches made a major change in protection scheming Saturday before the game and that appears to have been at the root of some problems, particularly with picking up defensive backs.

The change involved who was to pick up blitzing defensive backs, the scourge of the afternoon for the Bears. Assignments were completely altered to make a blitzing DB the responsibility of a back, where previously it was not. As a result, to use one example, a defensive back comes on the blitz, right tackle J’Marcus Webb lets him go because it’s the responsibility of Matt Forte or Chester Taylor, but the back didn’t make the switch from what had been coached to the new way.

Why the change was made is one thing. The positive is that this kind of situation, while a head-scratcher, is fixable. But the “communication” problems that so many players were alluding to now make quite a bit more sense.

Looking east

The Indianapolis-Washngton game is a couple days past but Comcast colleague Ryan O’Halloran has some observations that are worth a look for background moving toward the Bears-Redskins get-together Sunday...

Washington is allowing an average of 420 yards per game, 32nd in the NFL...

Rex Grossman, now Donovan McNabb’s backup with Washington, does think he’ll be boo’d when the Redskins come to Soldier Field. But his memories of Chicago are generally good, he tells Jason Reid in his “Redskins Insider” for the Washington Post....

Looking forward to a chat on CSNChicago.com starting at 5 p.m. today with colleagues covering the ‘Skins. Good chance to get a jump on all things Washington...

Duly noted

The Bears last year with Ron Turner, a quarterback receivers still getting to know each other and other issues, scored 129 points through their first six games. This year, still with some obvious issues, have scored 119...

Lovie Smith has enjoyed some degree of mastery over some teams and individuals since taking over the Bears. Not the Redskins, however; his teams have lost the three times they’ve faced Washington (2004, 2005, 2007)...

The Bears are among the NFL’s worst at converting third downs on offense but they are one of the best at keeping things brief defensively. No team is forcing three-and-out possessions at the rate the Bears are (31 of 79 drives, 39.2 percent). The Aikman Ratings, which combine rankings in seven different categories, has the Bears eighth in the NFL, fifth in the NFC...

Who’s safe?

The Bears released Mark Anderson two weeks ago and Anderson was on the active roster every game. He had five solo tackles, a sack and six quarterback pressures, deemed not enough for the Bears to keep him around for the rest of year in which they were paying him $1.75 million.

Will Anderson be the last surprise or significant roster slicing done this year?

Marcus Harrison has been a major disappointment after a promising 2009 and has been active only one of six game days. He had one quarterback pressure and zero other tackles, assists or other in his one appearance, the Monday night game against Green Bay. But Harrison likely gets some game-day chances to prove he warrants being retained.

A bigger question may be Tommie Harris, who has dressed for five games but making under the four-year, $40 million contract he signed in June 2008. Harris already has played to a level that coaches saw fit to bench him for one game. Plus, he has virtually zero chance of being a Bear past the end of this season, and he is due a $2.5 million roster bonus and $500,000 workout bonus next June. Harris has five tackles this season, two solo’s and three assists.

Given that Israel Idonije can play inside as the three-technique and likely net out with production comparable to Harris or Harrison, a decision could be made to continue to keep rookie Corey Wootton active as the end along with Julius Peppers and release a non-producing defensive tackle. The production could not be a whole lot less.

Originally Posted by dabears54

brilliant! and it never gets old seeing that joke 10X a day!..

Maybe when the FO stops picking up DL just to turn around and dump them anyway, we will run out of DL joke material.