Harris Sees the Handwriting on the Wall................

Harris sees demotion as writing on wall


Safety figures he's out of Bears' plans with Wright, Conte starting over him, Meriweather



By Vaughn McClure, Chicago Tribune reporter 8:38 p.m. CDT, October 13, 2011


Exactly one month ago Friday, Chris Harris quietly expressed his desire for a contract extension in order to finish his career with the Bears.

Now the veteran safety figures he's no longer in the team's plans.
Harris and fellow veteran safety Brandon Meriweather, the starters in Monday night's 24-13 loss to the Lions, were demoted before Thursday's practice in favor of second-year player Major Wright and rookie Chris Conte. Wright is set to start at strong safety and Conte at free safety versus the Vikings on Sunday night.

The news wasn't a shock to Harris, who has learned to expect the unexpected after being traded twice during his seven-year career. He has started 38 of his 43 career games as a Bear.

"They are going with their future, and I'm not the future or in their future plans,'' Harris said. "So they have to see what they have in Major and Chris. It's a business, and I will treat it as such.

"Nobody wants to play a reserve role. I don't think anybody plays this game to play a reserve role. But I can't change (stuff), so there's no sense in me whining about it. I just take the punches and keep rolling.''

It's not a stretch to wonder if another Harris trade is on the horizon. The NFL trade deadline is Tuesday, and Harris' contract expires at the end of the season.

"We all know I'm not going to be here next year, so that's always a possibility,'' Harris said.

But it's hard to imagine the Bears giving up — again — on a player praised by his teammates for his veteran leadership.

Harris, a second-team All-Pro last season, would be the first to say he has hasn't played up to expectations this season. A hamstring strain sidelined him for three games after a season-opening win over the Falcons. His return to the lineup Monday night was far from a success. He took full responsibility for allowing a 73-yard touchdown to Lions receiver Calvin Johnson.

But Harris refused to use the hamstring injury as a crutch for his struggles. If anything, Harris tried to return from the injury too soon.

"I will never blame anything on an injury,'' he said. "In my book if you're out there on the field, you're healthy.''

Injuries have contributed to the Bears' inability to find stability at safety, and a starting duo of Wright and Conte would be the fifth different combination in six games. The young safeties are sure to have a challenge with one of the league's top running backs, Adrian Peterson, coming to town.

Sunday will mark the 28th different starting safety combination since Lovie Smith took over in 2004.

Smith acknowledged the lack of consistency but said, "Eventually, we'll get it."

The Bears began the season with Harris ($1.095 million base salary) and Wright as the starters. Meriweather, a free-agent pickup who was signed to a one-year, $3.25 million contract, moved into a starting spot in Week 2. Now the team's two highest-paid safeties find themselves in reserve roles.

Harris said he hopes to regain his starting job this season, even if he's not in the future plans.

"Just keep coming out here working, keeping a good attitude,'' he said. "Adversity really reveals character. I think I have plenty of it.''

vxmcclure@tribune.com

Twitter @vxmcclure23

Pressure will be on Conte, Wright


By Vaughn McClure, Tribune reporter 9:25 a.m. CDT, October 14, 2011


The last time Major Wright and Chris Conte were on the field together, it wasn’t a pleasant scene.
It was a Week 2 matchup with New Orleans and the first game Chris Harris sat out with a hamstring injury. The Bears pulled Brandon Meriweather for a series in favor of the rookie Conte after Meriweather injured his ankle.
Drew Brees saw the perfect opportunity against the new safety combo, so Brees dropped back and found speedy receiver Devery Henderson deep down the middle. Henderson accelerated past Wright, then Wright tripped up Conte as Henderson scored a 79-yard touchdown.

The Bears can ill-afford such miscues as Wright and Conte prepare to take the field Sunday as the starters: Wright and strong safety and Conte at free.``Every week, there’s a lot of pressure,’’ Wright said. ``You just go out preparing to play. Everybody just has to prepare because at any time, you could play.’’

Sunday would mark Wright’s fourth-career start and Conte’s first. Wright entered the season as the starter alongside Harris then missed a game with a head/neck injury. He developed a reputation as a big hitter and solid tackler after an impressive showing in his first-ever exhibition (versus San Diego). But Wright’s coverage skills haven’t been questioned.

Vikings quarterback Donovan McNabb could take advantage Sunday, particularly if he sees Wright matched up against tight end Visanthe Shiancoe. But Wright and Conte have to be sound against the run, first, with Adrian Peterson – the league’s second-ranked rusher – capable of exploding. Peterson rushed for a Bears-opponent record 224 yards at Soldier Field in 2007.

``It’s a tough challenge, but we’re still in the NFL for a reason,’’ Wright said. ``Everybody has a job, and everybody has to do their job.’’ We'll see if Wright and Conte can get the job done.

vxmcclure@tribune.com
Twitter@vmcclure23


Copyright © 2011, Chicago Tribune
chi-pressure-will-be-on-conte-wright-20111014

I'm a huge fan of harris. Don't really like this at all. I understand his pessimism though, but I hope he's wrong about it all. The safety spot has obviously been an issue with this defense and he's been the one bright spot through it all. I'd like to see him retire as a bear. Not only do I think he's the best option we have right now (although I think the hammy is hurting him at this point), but his personality brings a lot to the table. If you're a friend of his on facebook you see that he interacts with the fans and is great at keeping the spirits up.

I think the coaches need to tell Harris they need him but not hurt it looks like. He needs to keep mentoring the guys on the sidelines and in practice. If management was smart they would just give him an extension now and keep him calm and happy.

I agree the writing MAY be on the wall for Harris and possibly a few others as well like Briggs, I think the Bears showed signs of the youth movement recently by their actions of late and think they are trending towards getting younger. I also believe that part of the problem this season is dissension among the team in part due to players realizing and reacting to this fact. The players were not happy Kreutz didn't get resigned and seeing how the organization is dealing with Forte and Briggs contract issues is further compounding the team.

First Dez Clark, then Kreutz, now Harris. I bet JA kicked his own mother out of the house when she hit 60.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by GSH Monsters

I agree the writing MAY be on the wall for Harris and possibly a few others as well like Briggs, I think the Bears showed signs of the youth movement recently by their actions of late and think they are trending towards getting younger. I also believe that part of the problem this season is dissension among the team in part due to players realizing and reacting to this fact. The players were not happy Kreutz didn't get resigned and seeing how the organization is dealing with Forte and Briggs contract issues is further compounding the team.

---

I agree with that statement. These players (well, at least Briggs) are not happy with the situation they are playing in, and it's hurting team chemistry.

So their solution is to play like crap. Real smart. I'm sure that's gonna pay off in the long run. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by blinddeafmute

I'm a huge fan of harris. Don't really like this at all. I understand his pessimism though, but I hope he's wrong about it all. The safety spot has obviously been an issue with this defense and he's been the one bright spot through it all. I'd like to see him retire as a bear. Not only do I think he's the best option we have right now (although I think the hammy is hurting him at this point), but his personality brings a lot to the table. If you're a friend of his on facebook you see that he interacts with the fans and is great at keeping the spirits up.

---

I kinda wish he would join you and tommy in trolling Seifert, lol...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by blinddeafmute

I'm a huge fan of harris. Don't really like this at all. I understand his pessimism though, but I hope he's wrong about it all. The safety spot has obviously been an issue with this defense and he's been the one bright spot through it all. I'd like to see him retire as a bear. Not only do I think he's the best option we have right now (although I think the hammy is hurting him at this point), but his personality brings a lot to the table. If you're a friend of his on facebook you see that he interacts with the fans and is great at keeping the spirits up.

---

I agree with you bdm. The last time we had leadership like he brings to the secondary was during Mike Brown's prime. Last year we the first year in four or five our play at Safety didn't suck. We got to the NFCC Game and Harris was a big part of the reason why. He wasn't elected All-Pro because they like his name.

So we spend $3.5 mil on a completely useless "Bad Boy" who can't do anything well except collect penalties and earn himself fines but we can't give Harris an extension that he'd probably agree to for 2/3rds of that! Somebody pleae tell me WTF is going on inside Halas Hall? This is the craziest year that I've ever seen out of Angelo. I think the guys off his rocker.

Harris is still hurt and needs to rest that hammy so maybe Wright and Conte will make extending Harris seem more necessary. They'll never re-sign Meriweather and if Harris leaves too once again we're back to drafting Safeties. Does Angelo do shit like this on purpose? It's hard to explain why we've had far more Safety combo's during Lovie's tenure than any other team in football.......by far, in any other way.