Bears cornerback has become cornerstone

Bears cornerback has become cornerstone

Once discarded, Jennings will view Saturday's Colts-Jets playoff game with mixed emotions

Bears cornerback Tim Jennings is sure to catch a least a glimpse of Saturday's AFC wild-card playoff game between the Colts and Jets, even if watching becomes painful at times.

A part of Jennings will be rooting for the Colts because of his strong ties to former teammates such as Charlie Johnson, Antoine Bethea and Kelvin Hayden, guys he played with for four seasons.

"I'm still a Colts fan, to tell you the truth,'' Jennings said. "I like great teams. I admire those guys over there: Peyton (Manning), the offense, the defense, the coaches. So of course I'm going to be watching.''

And a part of Jennings will be pulling for the Jets because the Colts decided not to re-sign him as a restricted free agent after the 2009 season.

Do I want them to win? No,'' Jennings said. "It's personal. But I do know what they're capable of doing.''

Maybe the Colts underestimated Jennings' abilities. The undersized veteran has proved to be an offseason steal for the Bears.

The 5-foot-8, 185-pounder earned the starting job over Zack Bowman after Week 3 and hasn't looked back. Jennings finished the regular season sixth on the team with 66 tackles to go with an interception, nine pass breakups and a game-changing fumble recovery against the Packers at Soldier Field.

He has been a consistent performer opposite Charles Tillman.

"When we started off the season, (no one was) asking a lot of questions about Tim Jennings, but now he's one of our guys,'' coach Lovie Smith said. "Tell us you're a tough football team, and a lot of times you can base that on how your corners tackle. Adding Tim Jennings to the mix, our corners definitely will tackle.''

Jennings brings an added dimension for the playoffs: postseason experience. He played in the playoffs each of the last three seasons, including about 20 snaps at nickel back in the Colts' Super Bowl loss to the Saints last year. He was inactive when the Bears played the Colts in Super Bowl XLI.

"You could tell that the Saints just wanted it a little bit more than we did,'' Jennings said.

If the Bears draw the Saints for their Jan. 16 home playoff game, the coaches might want to approach Jennings for a scouting report.

"Trick plays, man,'' Jennings said. "And you don't want to give up those big plays to them.''

The second-seeded Bears would draw the fifth-seeded Saints if New Orleans beats the host Seahawks on Saturday and the third-seeded Eagles lose to the sixth-seeded Packers. If the Eagles win, Michael Vick and crew would come to Soldier Field.

"I feel we match up well with anybody,'' Jennings said. "It all comes down to who wants it more. And we want it.''

vxmcclure@tribune.com

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Bears’ Jennings, Moore not afraid to hit

Starting cornerback Tim Jennings and nickel corner D.J. Moore are easily the two smallest players on the Bears’ defense, but both pack a big punch.

“It seems like guys who don’t have as much size normally play with a chip on their shoulder a little bit,” coach Lovie Smith said. “But whenever you bring up size those guys will let you know they’ve been this size all their lives and they’ve had success doing it.”

The 5-foot-8, 185-pound Jennings moved ahead of Zack Bowman and into the starting lineup in Week 4 and has been there ever since. He is third on the team with 9 pass breakups and sixth with 66 tackles.

The 5-foot-9, 183-pound Moore barely touched the field last year, playing briefly in just three games. But he’s found a niche as the Bears’ third cornerback in passing situations. He was third on the team with 4 interceptions, one of which he returned 54 yards for a touchdown.

“He’s another guy who was on the outside looking in when we started the season,” Smith said. “But he’s made play after play throughout the season.”

Moving on:
Coach Lovie Smith hopes to lose some of his assistant coaches — if the Bears’ playoff season allows them to get promotions elsewhere.

“When you have success, you want others to reap the benefits from it,” Smith said. “Our guys have done a great job, to a man. Hopefully someone will want to look at someone from off of our staff. Always I try to promote that, encourage it and hopefully it will happen.”
Offensive coordinator Mike Martz, defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli and offensive line coach Mike Tice are all former NFL head coaches, but none have been mentioned as candidates.
Award winning:

Just a week after being voted to his seventh Pro Bowl — but his first in four years — middle linebacker Brian Urlacher was, for the first time, named NFC defensive player of the month.
Teammate Julius Peppers won the award in November. Only two other Bears have won — linebacker Wilber Marshall in December 1986, and defensive end Trace Armstrong in September 1990.
Urlacher, who missed 15 games last season with a dislocated wrist, led the NFC with 49 tackles in five December/January games and added 1½ sacks, a forced fumble and 3 pass breakups.

Down time:

Players had Friday off and will not practice again until Monday.
“We have (time) to rest up, evaluate what we’ve done the entire football season, and see the direction we’re going with our next opponent.”

At noon on Jan. 16, the Bears will play the higher seeded team from the winners of the Saints-Seahawks game and the Packers-Eagles match.

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