Camp Battle: "Emery sends message to Bears' rookies"

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Emery sends message to Bears' rookies

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Jeff DickersonBears' rookies arrive at camp, and GM Phil Emery welcomed them with sound advice.

Chicago Bears general manager Phil Emery provided somewhat of a roadmap to success for the rookies set to hit the practice fields Thursday for training camp at Olivet Nazarene University.

Asked what it would take for a rookie to impress him at training camp, Emery stressed the importance of silence and humility.

"(It's) kind of like Brian Urlacher said: ‘Be quiet, be humble.' Work. Work," Emery said. "Find a way to contribute to the team whether that's on special teams, or as a role player as a pass rusher; whether that's a role player or a first- and second-down player. Whatever that role is, being a great practice player, being a guy that busts everybody else's but -- work ethic, attitude -- and showing us those skills that we drafted and that they contribute towards our goals in a positive way."

Sure, that's quite a mouthful from Emery. But they're definitely words rookies and on-the-bubble players need to remember in the coming days as most of the training camp battles begin to unfold.

The team undergoes physicals and conditioning tests on Wednesday before it goes into full action Thursday night at 2:30 p.m. The first workout will be without pads.

"We want to win championships now. We want to make progress towards our goals now," Emery said. "That's where I'm at with a sense of urgency and I believe that's where our team is. I liked how our team looked in OTAs. I like the talent base of our football team. But we've got to earn our place, though. That'll come starting Wednesday."

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This would be a horrible year for someone to come in out of shape or start loafing it in practice. For once, there is too much talent and too many good battles all over the depth chart for someone not to give it 100%. Plus, with Emery watching over things I don't think there is going to be much tolerance for any sort of laziness. And that, of course, is a great thing!

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Originally Posted by Papa Bear

This would be a horrible year for someone to come in out of shape or start loafing it in practice. For once, there is too much talent and too many good battles all over the depth chart for someone not to give it 100%. Plus, with Emery watching over things I don't think there is going to be much tolerance for any sort of laziness. And that, of course, is a great thing!

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That is exactly right. I love it. I can't remember a year with so much quality competition instead of just "training camp fodder". Any slackers will quickly have bus tickets out of Bourbonnaise this year.

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Originally Posted by Papa Bear

This would be a horrible year for someone to come in out of shape or start loafing it in practice. For once, there is too much talent and too many good battles all over the depth chart for someone not to give it 100%. Plus, with Emery watching over things I don't think there is going to be much tolerance for any sort of laziness. And that, of course, is a great thing!

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Idk about the whole team but read a couple tweets that bennett and forte look like they bulked up big time

it feels good we have guys after contract extensions still working their asses off unlike T Harris situation

Man, that dude was a monster. I'm still upset about him flaming out....

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Originally Posted by motownbear

Idk about the whole team but read a couple tweets that bennett and forte look like they bulked up big time

it feels good we have guys after contract extensions still working their asses off unlike T Harris situation

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Forte getting bigger? He's already a problem to bring down in the open. Bennett is also hard to bring down.

I agree JABF99. You come in here and aren't prepared you could find yourself on the bench. The bottom can push more then a few positions. The only people safe right now are Cutler/Forte/Marhsal/Briggs/Urlacher/Tillman/Garza.

And Peppers

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Originally Posted by Riczaj01

Forte getting bigger? He's already a problem to bring down in the open. Bennett is also hard to bring down.

I agree JABF99. You come in here and aren't prepared you could find yourself on the bench. The bottom can push more then a few positions. The only people safe right now are Cutler/Forte/Marhsal/Briggs/Urlacher/Tillman/Garza.

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I heard that too about forte. I think it was WBBM radio today. Said forte showed up bigger and bulked up. Maybe pulling that sled helped more than we thought. Great to hear these guys working it hard in the off season. especially forte coming back from his injury. 3 days to my visit to TC. GD this is dragging out....

Competition, accountability, and talent. Add in the expansion/upgrade of the scouting dept. and I can't find too much to rag about w/Emery. Takin' care o' business.

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I wasn't around for the Halas era but I was for the Ditka era and I know that he espoused most of the same principals the old man did. When you show up to camp every year you're expected to be in shape and win your job back again. There was no modern day crap like, "he's the starter going into camp" and he will be until we say he isn't.

The old man believed in strong competition in training camp and he went out each year to make certain he had the talent to create it. For too many years I've seen the Bears bring in too many guys who were nothing more than "training camp fodder" as BF99 calls them. I've often used that term too because that exactly what they were. Somebody for the starters to practice against but not guys who could threaten their jobs.

Well all that changed when Emery came in the door. He went out and picked up vets who have started for other teams to compete. Yeah maybe some of them are other teams castoffs but despite that these guys have proven that they have enough talent to not only win a roster spot but to start in this league.

So the guys who have the inside track will have to prove they can fight off the challenge of a guy who played their position with another team as a starter. They're no longer fighting off the challenge of a rookie UDFA who has a 1% chance of ever making the team. The rookies and second year guys will have to climb over those vets to earn their spots. So talk about good old fashioned healthy competition brother we got it!

I remember Ditka's first year as HC. Seventeen vets from the previous years team, some of them starters, didn't even make it out of camp. All it took was a couple of weeks of camp and a preseason game or two and it was sayonara. Don't let the door hit ya' where the Good Lord split ya'. Ditka said he was there to win a championship and if you weren't then good bye, turn in your playbook and your practice gear. I guess that must have worked huh?

I don't see that same kind of turnover on the horizon this year. Lovie's core vets have never been that lazy or undisciplined but there have been times when I think he let some guys stay more for what they did for him in the past than what they were still able to do, Tommie Harris being a good example.

You don't win SB's with that kind of lenience. Tom Coughlin has a rep for being a bit coldhearted comes cut down time but dammit he wins so sometimes you have to be. I think this will be Lovie's biggest test down the road. How easily will he be able to make the changeover from the many core defensive players who will need to be replaced over the next two or three years?

Personally I think it looks good. Last year guys like AA and Chris Harris showed that they just didn't have it anymore and were released. Hilly was another who had to go due to lingering injuries that would only have delayed getting Roach up to speed. So he's made some tough decisions with core guys but what happens when it's his super stars that have to go?

This is where I think having Phil Emery as GM is gonna make a huge difference. Personnel wise he's proving himself to be a "mover and a shaker" making changes and rebuilding quickly and on the fly. In order to replace a Briggs, a Tillman, and Urlacher and a Pep you need to identify their eventual replacements ahead of time and get them on the field learning from them before D-Day. I can actually see that beginning to happen now whereas under JA I never did.

Izzy get a one year deal and we drafted his eventual replacement. We sign Geno Hayes to compete with Roach but he's really more the guy who could replace Briggsy. DeCicco gets a lot of reps in the OTA's to see if he's got anywhere near what it takes to become the Bears next MLB. He and Lovie are mapping out those transitions early so that if we don't already have a prospect in place then they know how to draft and approach FA over the next two years.

The Bears dominated the NFL for many years and remained at the top of the heap in others for so long because GSH was about the craftiest owner in the NFL when it came to stocking his teams. He had to let some pretty damn good players go too because there were times when he had too much talent to keep them all around and some of those guys became HOF'ers elsewhere. George Halas knew how to find good football players.

Maybe that's what attracted the Bears so much to Phil Emery. You watch his interview and he certainly doesn't come across as a "slick" or a "know-it-all". He comes across as a "realist" who knows what it takes to win in the NFL and how to find the talent to do it with. I just wonder if the old mans namesake, George McCaskey, didn't see some of gramps style and way of thinking in Phil Emery and cast his vote in that direction? He may not keep a very high profile but I have a feeling that he's gonna prove to be the best representative off ownership we've seen in 50 years.

The man shoots straight. When Emery was hired he said very plainly that money would not pose a problem as far as adding players and closing what he described as the "talent gap" between the Bears and other NFCN teams. Well has it? Guys this is getting to look a lot more like the Bears of old and the Bears of the late 70's and early 80's when GSH pulled out all the stops to put the Bears back on top again and he did. But God Rest His Soul he didn't live long enough to see it happen.

I think if he had and that asswipe of a grandson of his hadn't been handed the team we'd have never fallen back from it either for most of the last 20 years or so. Now I think we finally have the right McCaskey running the show and a front office and coaching staff all working together to bring the Bears back to league prominence. It's just different these days and I can see it on the faces of everyone associated with the team and I can feel it too. The wind is finally blowing from a different direction these days and it no longer has the stink of Mike McCaskey or his hire Jerry Angelo.
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