The Bears Training Camp and Preseason Thread

[Banedon]

And here's the Clayton article:

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/trainingcamp07/columns/story?columnist=clayton_john&id=2956884

 

I'm confused by this part...

 

Now, the experiment is over. Hester is a receiver. Turner says that Hester will be on the field offense more than the five or six plays a game he logged last season. Hester predicts about 30 plays; however, there is one problem. He is so valuable as a returner that the team can't afford to see Hester get hurt on offense. Coaches will have to find the right balance in order to keep him fresh and healthy for the entire season.

 

Five or six plays a game on offense? Um...I'm thinking like 5 or 6 plays all YEAR if that? Is my memory failing me here?

 

they don't qualify the last part of that sentence with "on offense", though.

 

At best then, it's a very poorly worded sentence.

[YearofDaCubs]

Can you guys believe that this Sunday there will be a NFL game on? Talk about creeping up on you.

 

http://www.nfl.com/schedules/preseason/2007#preweek0

[cubweiser03]

From the SunTimes..

Hamilton is working with Grossman to make sure he steps up in the pocket, which should allow him to make more accurate and stronger throws. He also has Grossman holding the ball with two hands near his right shoulder to ensure his weight remains on his back foot. And he's encouraging Grossman to pick up yards on the ground when the opportunity presents itself.

 

''Rex really trusts what Pep is doing, and it's going to help him,'' Turner said. ''It's another step. Rex is going to get better just with another year in the system and the maturity and all the playing time he got, and Pep is another step that's going to help.''

 

It was Hamilton's teaching ability that prompted Turner's brother Norv, then the 49ers' offensive coordinator and now the Chargers' head coach, to recommend Hamilton to his brother after Wilson accepted a job with the Cowboys.

 

Also read elsewhere 5th round pick Kevin Payne is having a great camp special teams wise and looks to make the roster.

[Magnetic Curses]

And here's the Clayton article:

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/trainingcamp07/columns/story?columnist=clayton_john&id=2956884

 

I'm confused by this part...

 

Now, the experiment is over. Hester is a receiver. Turner says that Hester will be on the field offense more than the five or six plays a game he logged last season. Hester predicts about 30 plays; however, there is one problem. He is so valuable as a returner that the team can't afford to see Hester get hurt on offense. Coaches will have to find the right balance in order to keep him fresh and healthy for the entire season.

 

Five or six plays a game on offense? Um...I'm thinking like 5 or 6 plays all YEAR if that? Is my memory failing me here?

 

they don't qualify the last part of that sentence with "on offense", though.

 

At best then, it's a very poorly worded sentence.

 

true, very confusing.

[Banedon]

Can you guys believe that this Sunday there will be a NFL game on? Talk about creeping up on you.

 

http://www.nfl.com/schedules/preseason/2007#preweek0

 

And the Bears a week from Saturday! Wow.

[Banedon]

From the SunTimes..

Hamilton is working with Grossman to make sure he steps up in the pocket, which should allow him to make more accurate and stronger throws. He also has Grossman holding the ball with two hands near his right shoulder to ensure his weight remains on his back foot. And he's encouraging Grossman to pick up yards on the ground when the opportunity presents itself.

 

''Rex really trusts what Pep is doing, and it's going to help him,'' Turner said. ''It's another step. Rex is going to get better just with another year in the system and the maturity and all the playing time he got, and Pep is another step that's going to help.''

 

It was Hamilton's teaching ability that prompted Turner's brother Norv, then the 49ers' offensive coordinator and now the Chargers' head coach, to recommend Hamilton to his brother after Wilson accepted a job with the Cowboys.

 

Also read elsewhere 5th round pick Kevin Payne is having a great camp special teams wise and looks to make the roster.

 

Holding the ball with two hands near his shoulder should help with preventing fumbles as well.

Edited August 1, 2007 by Banedon

[MPC]

I don't know if this was posted but here goes:

 

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/peter_king/08/01/bears.postcard/index.html

 

i'm surprised that there's hardly a mention of grossman, and none of the usually grossman bashing king likes to throw around.

[brinoch]

I don't know if this was posted but here goes:

 

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/peter_king/08/01/bears.postcard/index.html

 

i'm surprised that there's hardly a mention of grossman, and none of the usually grossman bashing king likes to throw around.

 

He had the one caveat in there, but that was it. Maybe the Bears threatened to use him in tackling drills if he was nasty?

[Banedon]

Foxsports.com Training Camp power rankings...

 

7. Chicago Bears:

Though Bears fans will likely find it preposterous that their team is ranked behind New Orleans, it's hard to think Chicago improved over the off-season. While the addition of Darwin Walker will help, there are still a few lingering question marks. Lance Briggs got a one-year deal before the start of camp but could still be poisonous in the locker room, Tank Johnson's gone, Thomas Jones was traded to New York, and contributors Ian Scott, Todd Johnson, Alfonso Boone and Cameron Worrell are all elsewhere as well. More importantly, five of Lovie Smith's assistant coaches — including defensive coordinator Ron Rivera — are no longer with the organization.

 

Who knows what Chicago's going to get out of the Cedric Benson/Garrett Wolfe/Adrian Peterson/Devin Hester combo at running back, and Rex Grossman is... well... not the most consistent quarterback in the league. History isn't exactly on Chicago's side either. Five of the last six Super Bowl runners-up failed to make the playoffs the following year. Then again, the defense is still likely tops in the NFC and the addition of Adam Archuleta should only help. Chicago's going to be strong in '07; no questions there. Is it the NFC's best team, though? I'm tentatively tipping my hat to New Orleans on that for now.

[MPC]

Foxsports.com Training Camp power rankings...

 

7. Chicago Bears:

Though Bears fans will likely find it preposterous that their team is ranked behind New Orleans, it's hard to think Chicago improved over the off-season. While the addition of Darwin Walker will help, there are still a few lingering question marks. Lance Briggs got a one-year deal before the start of camp but could still be poisonous in the locker room, Tank Johnson's gone, Thomas Jones was traded to New York, and contributors Ian Scott, Todd Johnson, Alfonso Boone and Cameron Worrell are all elsewhere as well. More importantly, five of Lovie Smith's assistant coaches — including defensive coordinator Ron Rivera — are no longer with the organization.

 

Who knows what Chicago's going to get out of the Cedric Benson/Garrett Wolfe/Adrian Peterson/Devin Hester combo at running back, and Rex Grossman is... well... not the most consistent quarterback in the league. History isn't exactly on Chicago's side either. Five of the last six Super Bowl runners-up failed to make the playoffs the following year. Then again, the defense is still likely tops in the NFC and the addition of Adam Archuleta should only help. Chicago's going to be strong in '07; no questions there. Is it the NFC's best team, though? I'm tentatively tipping my hat to New Orleans on that for now.

 

this tells me everything i need to know about the credibility of this article.

[YearofDaCubs]

Foxsports.com Training Camp power rankings...

 

7. Chicago Bears:

Though Bears fans will likely find it preposterous that their team is ranked behind New Orleans, it's hard to think Chicago improved over the off-season. While the addition of Darwin Walker will help, there are still a few lingering question marks. Lance Briggs got a one-year deal before the start of camp but could still be poisonous in the locker room, Tank Johnson's gone, Thomas Jones was traded to New York, and contributors Ian Scott, Todd Johnson, Alfonso Boone and Cameron Worrell are all elsewhere as well. More importantly, five of Lovie Smith's assistant coaches — including defensive coordinator Ron Rivera — are no longer with the organization.

 

Who knows what Chicago's going to get out of the Cedric Benson/Garrett Wolfe/Adrian Peterson/Devin Hester combo at running back, and Rex Grossman is... well... not the most consistent quarterback in the league. History isn't exactly on Chicago's side either. Five of the last six Super Bowl runners-up failed to make the playoffs the following year. Then again, the defense is still likely tops in the NFC and the addition of Adam Archuleta should only help. Chicago's going to be strong in '07; no questions there. Is it the NFC's best team, though? I'm tentatively tipping my hat to New Orleans on that for now.

 

this tells me everything i need to know about the credibility of this article.

From what I'm hearing Hester will run some plays as WR and also the backfield so I can see him get RB status but probably only to catch out of the backfield and not run.

[Magnetic Curses]

Foxsports.com Training Camp power rankings...

 

7. Chicago Bears:

Though Bears fans will likely find it preposterous that their team is ranked behind New Orleans, it's hard to think Chicago improved over the off-season. While the addition of Darwin Walker will help, there are still a few lingering question marks. Lance Briggs got a one-year deal before the start of camp but could still be poisonous in the locker room, Tank Johnson's gone, Thomas Jones was traded to New York, and contributors Ian Scott, Todd Johnson, Alfonso Boone and Cameron Worrell are all elsewhere as well. More importantly, five of Lovie Smith's assistant coaches — including defensive coordinator Ron Rivera — are no longer with the organization.

 

Who knows what Chicago's going to get out of the Cedric Benson/Garrett Wolfe/Adrian Peterson/Devin Hester combo at running back, and Rex Grossman is... well... not the most consistent quarterback in the league. History isn't exactly on Chicago's side either. Five of the last six Super Bowl runners-up failed to make the playoffs the following year. Then again, the defense is still likely tops in the NFC and the addition of Adam Archuleta should only help. Chicago's going to be strong in '07; no questions there. Is it the NFC's best team, though? I'm tentatively tipping my hat to New Orleans on that for now.

 

i just don't understand what the inability of other teams to make the postseason after a super bowl birth has to do with the bears.

 

and to think that scott, johnson, and boone are collectively better than walker, dvoracek, and adams reaks of an anti-bear bias--or maybe he's just trying to make waves.

 

also, the bears haven't lost briggs. bear-haters like to pretend that briggs won't be playing for them this year--but they can't, so they make up weird reasons why he won't be effective.

Edited August 1, 2007 by Stannis

[Soul]

Foxsports.com Training Camp power rankings...

 

7. Chicago Bears:

Though Bears fans will likely find it preposterous that their team is ranked behind New Orleans, it's hard to think Chicago improved over the off-season. While the addition of Darwin Walker will help, there are still a few lingering question marks. Lance Briggs got a one-year deal before the start of camp but could still be poisonous in the locker room, Tank Johnson's gone, Thomas Jones was traded to New York, and contributors Ian Scott, Todd Johnson, Alfonso Boone and Cameron Worrell are all elsewhere as well. More importantly, five of Lovie Smith's assistant coaches — including defensive coordinator Ron Rivera — are no longer with the organization.

 

Who knows what Chicago's going to get out of the Cedric Benson/Garrett Wolfe/Adrian Peterson/Devin Hester combo at running back, and Rex Grossman is... well... not the most consistent quarterback in the league. History isn't exactly on Chicago's side either. Five of the last six Super Bowl runners-up failed to make the playoffs the following year. Then again, the defense is still likely tops in the NFC and the addition of Adam Archuleta should only help. Chicago's going to be strong in '07; no questions there. Is it the NFC's best team, though? I'm tentatively tipping my hat to New Orleans on that for now.

 

My goodness, where to start...

 

1) Lance Briggs has never, ever, ever been a poison in the locker room. Suggesting he will be, even after the warm welcome he received on his first practice day, is completely ridiculous.

 

2) New Orleans has lingering question marks too. Like how about that defense, which got completely and totally obliterated by our terrible QB and his horrible offense??

 

3) Tank Johnson's gone...........and replaced by a superior DT. Contributors Ian Scott and Alfonso Boone are gone........and replaced by more capable backups. Cameron Worrell and Todd Johnson were both horrible, and not very good contributors. They've been replaced by Archuleta and Kevin Payne, who certainly can't be worse and I'll bet are significantly better.

 

4) 5 assistant coaches are gone. Yep, and this happens quite often around the league. The leader, who built this team on his philosophy and his methodology, remains intact. As for Rivera, I like him but he didn't want to run the cover-2 anymore and Babich does. Hence, Ron had to go.

 

5) I'll give on the RB questions. But TJ was spit before he came here; we developed him, lifted him out of his career hole. The Bears know how to develop good RBs, and Cedric was very good in limited duty last year -- I believe his ypc numbers were comparable to TJ. APete has been one of the stronger depth-chart running backs in the league for quite some time now.

 

6) The SB runner-up history is meaningless.

 

7) It's amazing that this guy suggests at the end that he thinks we're no worse than 2nd in the NFC to New Orleans, yet if you read his article you would think we're going to post a 3-13 record. Overstate your case much?

 

I hope Lovie continues to use articles like this as bulletin board material. It'll keep us hungry, which is exactly what we need to be the best.

[jersey cubs fan]

it's hard to think Chicago improved over the off-season.

 

How is it hard? They are getting one of, if not the best defending players back after losing him midseason, in Harris. They are also getting Brown back from injury, a pro bowler. They added Archuletta to the safety depth. They replaced Tank Johnson, who for some reason is being talked about as some super stud now that he's gone, with a guy who is most likely better than him, and replaced the other two depth DTs with a couple guys are at least as good as them.

 

The defense lost nobody of value, and gained a starting S and 3 previously injured players.

 

The offense added Greg Olsen (who wasn't even mentioned in that article). They lost Thomas Jones, who is another guy who is being talked about as a much bigger loss than he was ever considered an asset. And they have a 1st round talent RB taking his place. They also "acquired" a year of learning for Grossman and their young receivers.

 

On a net basis, I don't see how this team lost more than it gained, and frankly I think it's easy to see why people may view them as improved. Maybe they aren't any better, but if it's hard for you to think they might be, then I'm guessing you spent the offseason stuck on the overplayed story of a terrible offseason and just haven't been willing to accept that the coaches and players they lost were nothing special, Briggs is in camp, Walker and Archuleta were added to the starting rotation on D. Or maybe they were just pissed Grossman hasn't been released yet.

[Magnetic Curses]

the only real notable areas in which they may have gotten worse was in rb depth and o-line age.

[Derwood]

it's hard to think Chicago improved over the off-season.

 

How is it hard? They are getting one of, if not the best defending players back after losing him midseason, in Harris. They are also getting Brown back from injury, a pro bowler. They added Archuletta to the safety depth. They replaced Tank Johnson, who for some reason is being talked about as some super stud now that he's gone, with a guy who is most likely better than him, and replaced the other two depth DTs with a couple guys are at least as good as them.

 

The defense lost nobody of value, and gained a starting S and 3 previously injured players.

 

The offense added Greg Olsen (who wasn't even mentioned in that article). They lost Thomas Jones, who is another guy who is being talked about as a much bigger loss than he was ever considered an asset. And they have a 1st round talent RB taking his place. They also "acquired" a year of learning for Grossman and their young receivers.

 

On a net basis, I don't see how this team lost more than it gained, and frankly I think it's easy to see why people may view them as improved. Maybe they aren't any better, but if it's hard for you to think they might be, then I'm guessing you spent the offseason stuck on the overplayed story of a terrible offseason and just haven't been willing to accept that the coaches and players they lost were nothing special, Briggs is in camp, Walker and Archuleta were added to the starting rotation on D. Or maybe they were just pissed Grossman hasn't been released yet.

 

i think people are hesitant to call them better because they played at least 2 games better than their talent last year. No one wants to come out and overly praise a team that went 13-3 at risk of looking dumb when they go 11-5

[rawaction]

The Bears are better than they were a year ago. Three players who started the Superbowl last year are gone. All 3 (Jones, Scott, Tank) have all been replaced by better players (Benson, healthy Tommie Harris, Walker). The starting safeties in the Superbowl are now backups to superior players. TE upgraded, WR upgraded, LB depth added, DB depth added, D-line was thought to be a problem, but that is now an upgrade.

 

I hate the SB loser argument. That's stupid. Seattle made the playoffs last year, and won a game. They lost in OT to the eventual NFC champion. And none of the SB losers has brought back 20 starters.

[Guest]

If media members actually believe the Super Bowl loser thing, that's all I need to know about them.

[Handlebar McSkullet]

Tank Johnson has turned into a folk hero!!!! I guess I forgot that he was sharing time with 3 other DT not named Tommy Harris for playing time. And last I checked, the colts are still running all over tank and ian scott. Darwin Walker is SO MUCH BETTER than Tank Johnson. I hate people.

[Handlebar McSkullet]

The Bears are better than they were a year ago. Three players who started the Superbowl last year are gone. All 3 (Jones, Scott, Tank) have all been replaced by better players (Benson, healthy Tommie Harris, Walker). The starting safeties in the Superbowl are now backups to superior players. TE upgraded, WR upgraded, LB depth added, DB depth added, D-line was thought to be a problem, but that is now an upgrade.

 

all media publications should use this paragraph. here is the sum up of the ofseason for you.

[BigSlick]

IMO, The Bears did improve during this off-season, but this probably won't be shown in their record.

 

Hopefully the improvement will be shown in their postseason success.

[Guest]

IMO, The Bears did improve during this off-season, but this probably won't be shown in their record.

 

Hopefully the improvement will be shown in their postseason success.

 

I definitely agree with that. It's a much tougher schedule so I think their regular season record will drop a bit despite being a better, deeper team.

[Chocolate Milk]

I honestly think most of the negativity stems from Grossman. It all starts from there and the rest is mostly filler. Didn't Improve=Grossman is still there.

[Chocolate Milk]

And here's the Clayton article:

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/trainingcamp07/columns/story?columnist=clayton_john&id=2956884

 

I'm confused by this part...

 

Now, the experiment is over. Hester is a receiver. Turner says that Hester will be on the field offense more than the five or six plays a game he logged last season. Hester predicts about 30 plays; however, there is one problem. He is so valuable as a returner that the team can't afford to see Hester get hurt on offense. Coaches will have to find the right balance in order to keep him fresh and healthy for the entire season.

 

Five or six plays a game on offense? Um...I'm thinking like 5 or 6 plays all YEAR if that? Is my memory failing me here?

 

they don't qualify the last part of that sentence with "on offense", though.

 

At best then, it's a very poorly worded sentence.

 

true, very confusing.

 

I think the 5-6 is referring to special teams plays. I think he was saying he was on the field 5-6 times a game.

[Soul]

I honestly think most of the negativity stems from Grossman. It all starts from there and the rest is mostly filler. Didn't Improve=Grossman is still there.

 

Can't argue it. It's sort of maddening though that Grossman never gets mentioned as the QB with the most 100+ QB ranking games last year, or that he was a huge reason we won in overtime against Seattle. People just see his bad games. Even worse, Romo puts up 5 stinkers/marginal games in a row and it never gets mentioned.

 

There's bias at work here, and even though I realize we shouldn't let it get to us, it's still ridiculous.