Soul

There's plenty of reasons to be concerned about the Cards.

Lots of media guys have taken shots at him. I have to wonder if he's a potential camp casualty. Probably depends on Tillman's health, but man he sure seems to have taken he money and run. That would be a surprise for me even if Tillman shows up healthy due to the uncertainty of Tillman's health and the lack of experience for Bowman and Graham. Hmm, I saw him make a couple good plays, but admittedly I didn't spend all my time watching him. I'd be shocked if he was cut given the situation right now, but we're going on years now with him either playing badly or not playing at all. I'm sure the clock is ticking. Maybe he's just not into it anymore.

Miles returns. Somewhere, a baby seal dies.

Sounds like he walked off under his own power. I believe durability has always been a concern for him. Better get Graham the reps with the 1st team he needs to be ready if necessary.

$35 million of it is guaranteed. Ridiculous.

6 has the virtue of not being 8. Which has the virtue of me not needing to hear that nonsense anymore.

Good stuff. I'm pretty amped for this season. We've got some issues, but what team doesn't? I want to see what Bear football looks like with an actual, without-question, franchise QB. Never seen that before. I have a feeling you're going to find out that there's other talent on that offensive roster. Talent that just couldn't blossom because there was nobody to deliver the ball on time, in stride, with consistency.

LOL, he cares so little that he can't stop talking about it.

Dez will get plenty of playing time. It will be interesting to see how this might change the packages though, because Olsen isn't going to be a primary blocker (at least I don't think so). I was struck by how many times Olsen was lining up wide, or just in the slot. He's listed as a TE -- but he's lining up as a WR for all intents and purposes in some sets. CBs can't outjump him, and LBs can't catch him. Olsen is a mismatch machine. I'm really excited for the possibilities with Cutler & Olsen this year.

Clark's a good dude. I was down on him for a couple years, but he proved me wrong. I still think he's a fine 2nd option after Olsen. I think our TE corps is a real asset.

OK isn't a bad thing on the 4th day of camp for a guy who most fans didn't see do anything last year. He's not a "WOW" type WR. Him knowing the plays, running good routes, and catching the ball is good enough for him to be a strong contributor to this team. Also, I have read on other boards that people don't expect much out of him because he didn't catch any passes last year and good WRs are guys that come in right away and catch a lot of balls. Sure, guys like Rice, T.O., and Moss all had big rookie years. And Bennett was in the same draft that produced 90-catch rookie, Eddie Royal. But there are plenty of guys who didn't do anything as rookies who became really good WRs. Jimmy Smith - 0 rookie catches Keenan McCardell- 1 Amani Toomer- 1 Joe Horn - 2 Cris Carter - 5. Granted none of them are Hall of Famers outside of Carter, but they all finished in the top 40 all time in receptions. Carter finished 2nd. Even on the Bears, we recently had Berrian, who took a bit to get going. Marcus Robinson hung around the depth chart for a couple seasons before blossoming for a year or two. We'll be fine if Bennett can just be a solid guy who runs decent routes and doesn't drop the ball when called upon. I don't really care about the hall of fame. I think those people are using a false comparison. We don't need Earl Bennett to follow the career path of Jerry Rice.

http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/03/the-bears-beyond-cutler/ He goes on to say..... I referenced this a few days ago. I don't know where these stats are coming from though. Right. KC Joyner is the same guy who made up the "failed decision rate" and used it to say Cutler will fail in Chicago. I'm not a big fan of the guy. He seems to be one of these guys who is trying to invent a new stat set for football. I'm a believer that football can't be quantified with statistics as baseball can. But whatever. POA is a made-up Joyner stat.

Iglesias looked fairly solid to me. I was watching him because I heard he "wasn't getting it" or something like that from a few people. But he looked fine to me. He had a drop or two on Saturday under the lights, but nothing that the other receivers didn't have, too. Pisa looked fine to me. I didn't center in on him much, but he's certainly more of a physical specimen than Hillenmeyer. I wasn't fortunate enough to be really close to the linebackers when they were doing their individual drills. I did see him in on 2nd team, and some on the 1st team. I can't really say where they will go, but just my opinion -- I'd try him out over Hillenmeyer. We'll see.

Here's a few notes/observations from my 3 days at camp: 1) Chris Williams looks like he needs work. He was getting beat by Ogun regularly in Saturday's practice, and again in drills on Monday. Didn't watch him much on Sunday. I'm not concerned yet.......but he needs work, that's all. 2) Orlando Pace looks great. He's fully participating in everything. No taking plays off, no sitting out of drills. Man, I don't think I realized how huge he is until I saw him in a Bear uni. Monster. 3) Marinelli is fun to watch. He walks with a bit of a limp, you can pick him out right away. But he's very engaged, if that means anything. From what I can see (and compare from previous camps), he's got the D Line running a little more, working on footwork, etc. Hope it pays off. 4) Bowman looked good to me. It's hard to tell what would really happen in games, but he made several nice coverage plays while I was there. 5) Tillman looks sad :( 6) Harrison indeed looks fat. I'm not sure what the reported weight was, but yes, he looks so big he couldn't have really worked out during the offseason. Or maybe he just didn't do enough. Lovie said he's getting closer to being ready. Right now he's off to the side, doing running drills and such with an individual coach. 7) People were saying Tommie Harris was limping, but I watched him and he looked fine to me. He isn't in on all plays though, but I didn't think he looked gimpy. They were also talking about Forte missing Monday's practice, but he was out there. He looked fine to me, but what do I know? He was there, and working out, and looked like Forte. 8) Jones looks quick and ready to go. Hopefully he can take some of the load off Forte. Looked like he's ready to give it a good shot. 9) Predictably, the D is overall ahead of the O right now, IMO. 10) Alright, Cutler. Here's what I see. The man's throwing motion is effortless. He doesn't appear to have to stress himself very much, even on the long throws. His feet look very "quiet" to me (in my unprofessional opinion). He doesn't stammer when he's ready to toss the ball. He stays very still. People have told me he looks down his receivers, but I clearly watched him going through his 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th reads regularly. He appears to do so quickly. He makes every throw with the correct amount of touch, as far as I can see. Nothing is thrown way too hard, or too soft. If it needs to get there quickly, he gets it there quickly. If it needs to be lofted in, he lofts it in. To me, he's the goods. Easily the best QB I've seen at a Bear camp -- I know that's not saying much, but there you have it. I'm impressed. 11) People are saying they are impressed with Earl Bennett. To me, he has looked OK. However, I don't see anything about him that makes me go "wow." I'm not saying he won't succeed. I hope he does. 12) Knox had some great moments, and then some shaky moments too. 13) Look for the Cutler to Olsen connection. The two are hooking up regularly even this early. I was encouraged to see it. I'm a believer that Olsen can break out and be a pro bowl TE with Cutler throwing to him. Nothing I saw makes me feel different. 14) People are questioning Hester, but I have to say: he looks like the best WR in camp to me. His cuts look sharper than the others, his hands looked good, his speed top notch. It's hard to compare, but I left with the impression that he's the #1 because he deserves to be, not just because of his name and the contract. Maybe he wouldn't be more than a slot guy on a team with great WRs, but on this team, he seems to be clearly the best WR we have right now. 15) I know I've been critical of Vasher, but he looked healthy and quick to me. Hope that means he will be back to form. 16) Not sure who that new kicker is (#10 -- didn't show up on the roster cards while I was there), but Gould looks like the same Gould to me. I'd be very surprised if the "new guy" sticks around for more than a few weeks, unless Robbie starts to look much worse than he did while I was there. 17) How does Urlacher look? He looks healthy, in shape. I doubt he's really going full speed right now, but he looked happy and ready to go. Briggs looked like he was easing himself into the routine for now. Williams looks like he's in great shape. 18) Lots of the rooks understandably look like they are feeling out the ropes. Gilbert, Melton, Moore -- looking like they are working themselves into it, but still figuring things out a bit. Gilbert is a physical specimen, as advertised. It's hard to say what will happen. Moore is quick. Dropped a few quick tosses in drills, then looked really good on a few. Melton returned a kick on Monday, which was kind of cool. That's all I can think of. Please don't take this as me thinking I know everything. I realize all of this is just one guy's opinion from the sideline. It's just a brain dump.

Interesting. Thanks. I found it interesting and perhaps a little confusing that Basanez was getting the reps with the 2nd string today, and Hanie didn't get reps in the 11 on 11 drills. Perhaps they were just alternating for now. Hanie looked much better to me than Basanez in Sunday's practice.

Maybe not, but his stuff seems very average to me. Always has. Maybe blowing 2 saves in a row is a little extreme, but I don't have much confidence in his abilities against the better hitting lineups in the league. I'm guessing, but I think he's going to blow more. More than he has in the first half.

He's never had to, and I doubt he's being asked to. He's just there to give an ex-player's opinion on whatever.

He'd never make it there even if the Cubs wanted to try. The bullpen has sure been streaky. After 2 months of dominance, the last few days have been brutal. They're just a bullpen. Pray they go on a hot streak again.

I need counseling.

Oh hell yeah. He can't be paying attention to the "spots." He's just throwing his stuff. Where it goes is where it goes.

What he always says in situations like this, I'd imagine. "Oh my God." "Cannot BELIEVE this!" "Come ON!"

I'm not sure I can take this anymore. He's going to take 10 years off my life. Win or lose.

Lou's leaving him in!

Lou looks like he's about to lose it.

Marmol is just nightmarish.