-
New From Bears Camp......No, Not Band Camp, LOL..
Good signs at Bears camp
Bears practicing harder and treating camp with more urgency
Comments
Dan McNeil 10:03 p.m. CDT, August 18, 2011
I'm giving Lovie Smith and his staff a thumbs up on how they're handling this year's training camp. That's right — high marks for the Bears headmaster.
Smith likely would suggest his approach is consistent with previous Augusts in Kankakee County and smugly reject the compliment. The truth is the Bears are practicing harder and treating camp with more urgency than in the past.
A suspect offensive line has been getting schooled daily by a Bears defense that is expected to drop a few jaws this season. That's good. Best to know now if J'Marcus Webb can play left tackle. If right guard Lance Louis is tough enough.
The early returns on Webb and Louis aren't encouraging. They struggled against Buffalo in Saturday's first dress rehearsal and the humbling beat downs continued this week during physical practices in oppressively hot weather.
I wanted to see the big fellas bang each other around a lot more and they are. Smith played his first line the first half Saturday and will do it again when they face the Giants on Monday night. If the results are comparable to the Bills game, expect to see another game of "Musical Bears."
If first-rounder Gabe Carimi is the best option at left tackle, it's better to learn that now and commit to a switch instead of waiting until the second week of the regular season. That would be like last year, when Chris Williams' hamstring injury necessitated moving Frank Omiyale to left tackle while the rookie Webb took over at right tackle.
That switch calmed down a Dallas pass rush that was all over Jay Cutler in the first quarter. The Bears settled down and upset the Cowboys. Despite themselves.
It's only the preseason, but allow yourself to get drunk on how deep the Bears are on the defensive line. A muscled-up Henry Melton dazzled Saturday and newcomers Amobi Okoye and Vernon Gholston also played well. If Gholston excels on coverage teams, he'll make the team.
Major Wright, the starter at free safety and a huge question mark heading into the season, acquitted himself nicely Saturday and has practiced well.
Wide receiver Roy Williams has underwhelmed. He sure has the wide receiver act down, however.
In a visit with "The Boers and Bernstein Show" on WSCR-AM 670 Wednesday afternoon, Williams intimated that the only legitimate NFL coaching he ever received was when he and Mike Martz were together in Detroit.
Maybe Martz can share some wisdom on how the physically impressive Williams can elude the jam of a 5-foot-8 cornerback like Tim Jennings. The corner stuffed Williams several times during practice Wednesday, to the delight of secondary coach Gill Byrd.
I'm pleased the Bears and Giants will be on ESPN and WLS-Ch. 7 Monday night because Erik Kramer annoys the hell out of me on the Bears-owned telecasts on WFLD Ch. 32. Is it asking too much to require the exhibition season television crew to actually attend a few practices? Talk to some coaches maybe?
Kramer, who typifies "California cool" more even now than when he was the team's quarterback, sounded like he landed at O'Hare an hour before kickoff.
A round of applause for the Chicago Park District and the sodsmen for keeping Soldier Field playable Saturday. Or maybe it was just well-timed rain.
Dan McNeil hosts "The Danny Mac Show" weekdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on WSCR-AM 670.
Copyright © 2011, Chicago Tribune
ct-spt-0819-dan-mcneil-bears-chicago-20110819 
I'm getting to that age where a lifetime warranty just doesn't mean as much to me anymore as an afternoon nap. 
Honey Badger Don't Care. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit.
-
-
-
High Fives / Like - 1 BEAR DOWN!, 0 Dislikes
-
Thursday Aug. 18 practice observations
By Sean Jensen on August 18, 2011 9:43 PM| 6 Comments| No TrackBacks
In a refreshing change, on a beautiful night, the Bears offense had a strong evening. Bears quarterbacks Jay Cutler and Caleb Hanie routinely threw the ball to their own offensive teammates, and the offensive lines blocked well enough to allow the running backs to consistently get past the line of scrimmage.
But some of that success has to be taken with a grain of salt: defensive starters like Lance Briggs (knee bruise), Brian Urlacher (general soreness) and defensive tackle Anthony Adams (calf) didn't practice Thursday.
Here are some highs and lows:
THE HIGHS
* Caleb Hanie was definitely in a groove, making the short and long throws. He hooked up with undrafted rookie Kris Adams on several long passes down the left sideline.
* Undrafted rookie defensive end Mario Addison seemed to take advantage of his reps with the first- and second-strong defense. He got past starting left tackle J'Marcus Webb a couple of times, although none appeared to be for a sack.
* Receiver Johnny Knox continues to look explosive, both as a kickoff returner and a receiver. While he got a few snaps with the starters, Knox is still mostly with the twos -- something that makes Hanie very happy.
* Tight end Kellen Davis had a strong night, most notably towering high in the end zone for a touchdown from Jay Cutler.
THE LOWS
* Second-year cornerback Josh Moore had a rough night, giving up several explosive passes. He bit hard on a double move by Adams for a long touchdown.
* Receiver Roy Williams made several solid catches. But he juggled and eventually dropped a well-placed pass from Cutler in the middle of the field.
* As the Bears stagger to the end of training camp, the injury list is starting to get longer. Zack Bowman (concussion), Chester Taylor (sore knee), Devin Hester (soreness) and Desmond Clark (unknown).
PRACTICE BALLS GOES TO...
Caleb Hanie. The Bears backup quarterback has been getting served humble pie from a coach and a certain diminutive columnist from my newspaper. But Hanie had what appeared to be his strongest practice yet on Thursday night, not throwing any interceptions and tossing several touchdown bombs.
I'm getting to that age where a lifetime warranty just doesn't mean as much to me anymore as an afternoon nap. Honey Badger Don't Care. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit.
-
No matter what Knox does Martz will stick by Mr. Mittens like Todd Collins. His conditioning issues don't help matters.
Arguing on the internet is like winning the special olympics, even if you win your still messed up.
Restore the roar!
-
yeah if jennings can jam that dude, he's got issues...
-
-
I think the key to this years overall success, like it or not, is what he says in that last paragraph. If the Oline can just manage to run block well and pass block average we can still have a great year. Provided Martz will gameplan and playcall with that in mind.
I'm getting to that age where a lifetime warranty just doesn't mean as much to me anymore as an afternoon nap. Honey Badger Don't Care. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit.
-
Originally Posted by
Nick 
yeah if jennings can jam that dude, he's got issues...
Where does all this negativity towards Jennings come from ? Are some listening to the waterboys from the media ( and all their VAST experience at playing football ) too much ? I don't get it. The guy plays hard, competes on every play and I don't remember him being some huge liability last year. What am I forgetting ? Can someone please enlighten me ?
What should you call any : Fumble , Hold , Interception , Three and out , or Sack ?
A " F.H.I.T.S " ? or a J'Marcus ?
-
Originally Posted by
Blue Horse-shoe Where does all this negativity towards Jennings come from ? Are some listening to the waterboys from the media ( and all their VAST experience at playing football ) too much ? I don't get it. The guy plays hard, competes on every play and I don't remember him being some huge liability last year. What am I forgetting ? Can someone please enlighten me ?
He got toasted early in that NFCC Game last year and doesn't match up well with the bigger more physical WR's that's all. I agree with you. He plays hard and he's s good open field tackler and if the guy was 4" taller and 10 lbs heavier no one would complain. What we really need is to genetically combine his tenacity with Bowman's size and we'd have the perfect CB.
I'm getting to that age where a lifetime warranty just doesn't mean as much to me anymore as an afternoon nap. Honey Badger Don't Care. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit.
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Reply With Quote
so Roy why don't you just 
and play football.
