Young Safeties Get The Message.....................

Urlacher says young safeties get the message




By Vaughn McClure, Tribune reporter 9:10 a.m. CDT, October 28, 2011


Brian Urlacher sees no reason to give Major Wright and Chris Conte a pep talk with veteran Chris Harris now out of the mix. The Chicago Bears defensive co-captain believes the young safeties already get the message.

``I don’t have to tell them anything because they know they have to produce,’’ Urlacher said. ``Look what happened to Chris (Harris). Your job is not guaranteed anywhere.’’

Letting Harris go, Lovie Smith and the coaching staff put a lot of faith in a pair of unproven players. Wright, a third-round draft pick in 2010, has started four career games and endured his share of injuries. Conte, a rookie third-rounder, will make his third start when the Bears return to action at Philadelphia on Nov. 7.
``I don’t think my role has changed,’’ Conte said. ``I think when they made me the starter, they expected me to prove myself and hold on to that starting job. So I expect to have the same role (and) just keep on playing the best that I can.’’

Cornerback Tim Jennings, now in his seventh season, offered a helping hand to his inexperienced teammates. ``The way I approach it is I just comfort them, let them know some of the things that I know so they can feel comfortable out there,’’ Jennings said. ``They drafted you here from what you did in college, so do what you did in college when you were out there just playing loose and having fun.
``Don’t make it seem like a lot of pressure because you’re young and in the league. You’ve got Pro Bowl guys all around you. You just do what your normally do.’’

Although he's ready to move forward with Wright and Conte, Jennings remains somewhat perplexed about what happened to Harris. ``Chris got drafted here, got traded, brought him back, and they’re still drafting safeties. It just all looked funny to me,’’ Jennings said. ``But I guess you can’t second-guess someone’s decision. You just have to deal with it.’’ (And Jerry Angelo replied, "it's the way we do things around here Tim and don't you forget it". "Just be glad I don't get a hard on for Corner Backs like I do with Safeties!)

vxmcclure@tribune.com
Twitter@vxmcclure23


Copyright © 2011, Chicago Tribune
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With the inexperienced pair of Conte and Wright as starters and only Meriweather an experienced backup at FS I won't believe the only reason Chris Harris was let go had to do with his play. Lovie has been known to stick with underperforming vets like Tommie Harris many times over and since Manning left in FA Harris was the only Safety with much experience in that defense.

Chris Harris made a bad choice asking for a trade and tweeting about the inequities in the coaches decision making process. In doing that he showed Lovie up and exposed somethings I'm sure the Lovie and Angelo would rather have kept under wraps. That's what you get for being honest Chris. For saying what we all knew needed to be said.

I'm not in favor of the Bears running around and giving out team strategies in public but pretty often I find there being more than just close mouthed about matters of interest. To me there's a lot of dishonesty about the way this team is being run and it trickles down for Jerry Angelo and oft times comes straight out of Lovie Smith's mouth. Don't you often wonder what's really behind that fake smile and smugness when he's asked a perticularly pointed question?

It's pretty common for the sportswriters who follow the team to write articles questioning it's decisions and direction and since fans read those columns it's not surprising when we do it too. But when it starts to get questioned in the locker room by the stars and core players on the team it seems to me you have a problem. I'd say that right now the trust level between the players and their coaches and management is at a low point and that's not good. They're already talking about trust issues between the players themselves and this just adds to the problem.

Why does this always seem to go on in this organization and when, if ever, will it stop? We all talk about players like TO who are a cancer in the locker room but what about GM's or HC's who tend to be the same? You can't build championship teams in an environment like this.

I hope that sense of urgency translates to the D line.