Toub pleased with special teams' progress

By Brad Biggs, Tribune reporter



10:46 a.m. CDT, August 22, 2012

Dave Toub wants to see the Chicago Bears shore up things on special teams Friday night against the New York Giants, but overall he was pleased with the effort against the Washington Redskins that included a 91-yard punt return for Brandon Banks.

Banks’ touchdown came against reserves and after film review, Toub counted five players who didn’t execute their assignments.

“It’s a preseason thing,” Toub said. “We had the twos in there. The kick was good. (Adam) Podlesh made a good kick. We just made some mistakes. About five guys made mistakes on that one play so when you have that many breakdowns, you’re going to get a touchdown run on you.”

The Bears responded at the start of the third quarter with a 105-yard kickoff return by Lorenzo Booker and Robbie Gould won the game with 31 seconds remaining on a 57-yard field goal, matching the longest of his career in the regular season. Reserve long snapper Tyler Clutts and backup holder Ryan Quigley executed for Gould’s long kick.

Booker, a reserve running back who still faces a challenge to make the 53-man roster, sprung the return on his own.

“We had a guy come down unblocked and he had to avoid him and ended up outside the blocking,” Toub said. “He had to beat three guys. That was a heck of a return he made.”

Eric Weems, signed in free agency to help on special teams, will have a prominent role. He’s still not 100 percent after suffering a sprained ankle in preseason but Toub was pleased with his performance against the Redskins.

It’s about finding chemistry between new players in preseason and the Bears are coming along with two preseason games remaining.

“The kick coverage was good. It was solid,” Toub said. “We were a little soft later on with the three’s and four’s but we’re coming together.”





http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports...,3997264.story