David

Already saw that... it's pretty ridiculous how some "journalists" will take something that most Bears fans take as a huge positive and attempt to bash him for it.

I've heard bad things about the Vikings' new center...

http://www.nfl.com/trainingcamp/story?id=09000d5d811d7230&template=without-video-with-comments&confirm=true Interesting thing to take note of at the beginning... I thought that might be a slip up on the writer's part, but it seems like a bit of a no brainer given the fact that Bowman was given Peanut's spot (ergo he's highly regarded) when Peanut went down and Vasher has been underperforming. He has direct quotes from Lovie, so it may have been implied by something Lovie said... Either way, I would feel good about the position if those two guys were healthy and our starting CB's. All that aside... can someone explain what, "We'll be salty," means and how it's a good thing?

Mortensen mentioned Cutler-Olsen as the thing he was most impressed with in his training camp tour.

Hmm, wonder why it was removed. Clearly someone who has an axe to grind with Cutler. Or just someone who has hated the Bears since a certain day in 2006.

Count me as a cautious believer in Marinelli. There's a reason he has the reputation he does around the league as a positional coach. The line should be better. Just how much, we'll see... but if this offense is as good as I think it can be, the defense only needs to be pretty good...not great. If it's great (which certainly might be asking a lot at this point), then we're going to be close to unbeatable. At the very least, we're still incredibly strong and deep at LB. I like the talent on our d-line even if it didn't amount to as much as we would've liked last year... And if we wind up with Tillman and Bowman at CB, I'd feel pretty good about that. Not much to say about our safeties other than I'm excited to see Afalava play in the preseason... but either way, as was mentioned, the line dictates how good this secondary will be. This defense wasn't as bad as people will have you believe last year. It wasn't up to our standards, but it still was decent. Top 5 in yards/play. Just so happens we were involved in lots and lots of plays due, in part, to the fact that our offense couldn't stay on the field.

BJ Raji has left the Green Bay area http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/52995532.html

http://www.nfl.com/videos/chicago-bears/09000d5d811d305e/All-Access-Greg-Olsen

http://www.chicagobears.com/team/depthchart.asp

GAMEBOARD!

Hester also has had to deal with a lot of balls that were thrown behind him, or underthrown that he had to fight for, which isn't really his game. Agreed

Seifert is as unbiased as it gets (possibly biased against Bears, if anything)... Here's a good report from him... Evening Bears update August 10, 2009 8:39 PM Posted by ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert BOURBONNAIS, Ill. -- As move through training camp and into the regular season, it'll be incumbent on me to make sure we don't duplicate the fine Bears coverage we're now getting from Jeff Dickerson of ESPN Chicago. So make sure you check out his Monday practice notes, which leads off with the surprising ascent of rookie safety Al Afalava. It's impressive to see how much progress Afalava has made since missing most of the Bears' offseason program. Here are a few other observations from Day 1 at Bears camp: * I spent a decent amount of time watching pass rush/pass protection drills between the offensive and defensive lines. To little surprise, left tackle Orlando Pace was dominating. When he's healthy, no one can get around him. On the other side, I was also impressed with right tackle Chris Williams. He stopped Israel Idonije in his tracks and engulfed him on one play. Williams followed it up by doing the same to Mark Anderson on another. Last year's top draft choice looked quick and fundamentally sound to me. * I won't pile on the Jay Cutler bandwagon -- too much. But I did see him throw at least one pass that makes you realize why the Bears paid so handsomely for him. During a team drill late in practice, receiver Devin Aromashodu had perhaps a quarter-step on cornerback Corey Graham as they sprinted down the right sideline. Cutler tossed the ball with perfect loft and distance, and Aromashodu caught it in full stride despite Graham being in pretty decent position. The pass was Exhibit A for how a really good quarterback can make receivers better. Cutler made the play work with only the slightest bit of separation. * I got lost trying to keep up with the variations of defensive backs the Bears rotated in an out of the first team. With cornerbacks Charles Tillman (back) and Zack Bowman (hamstring) out, Trumaine McBride and Graham appeared to be rotating opposite Nate Vasher. Danieal Manning seemed to be the nickel back, when Afalava replaced him opposite Kevin Payne. I think. What that all means is the Bears secondary remains significantly unsettled with the first preseason game approaching.

Maybe I have enjoyed it more than fans of other teams because the Bears seem to (not really sure if it's true or not, but it does get me excited to see some of those players) have more later round players turn into useful and even great players. *shrug*

I fail to see the difference between the guys playing the ends of exhibition football games and those playing the ends of ST baseball games, especially in baseball's favor. Plenty of 1st, 2nd and 3rd round rookies play in the second half of the football games...guys who often contribute significantly in their first seasons... it's not just roster filler/fringe guys. And like I said, the eye test means a lot more in football than it does in baseball. Speed is speed. Hands are hands. I'll get to see what Johnny Knox looks like running a route and catching a pass and it can actually tell me a little bit about him (maybe not much, but more than seeing minor league baseball players hit in tough fielding conditions against a mix of bad old players, fringe prospects, career minor leaguers, and some actual prospects). They may be up against crap competition, but athleticism and physical tools actually mean something in football and you can get an idea of what some of those draft picks can do in these games. Granted, I don't feel all that strongly about this, as I rarely can manage to watch full games of either, but if I had to watch one of the two all the way through, it would be football, hands down.

Olsen has great hands and is both bigger and faster than Marshall, fwiw. He's practically a wideout in a TE's body with his speed and receiving ability. I believe Bennett to have pretty good hands and I think Hester's hands are underrated. He had a few big drops early in his career as a receiver and I think he also gets a bad rap because of the muffed punts now and then, but he should make enough plays to be a threat. I thought he caught the ball really well down the stretch last year. The other guys (DA, Iglesias, Rideau, Knox) are said to have good hands but I've never seen them play.

Marshall and Royal's SI scouting reports going into their drafts... http://www.aww-kittah-aww.com/up/public/89535/marshall.JPG http://www.aww-kittah-aww.com/up/public/89534/royal.JPG

lol nah he was just listening... Mully and Hanley did the interview... Zaidman wasn't even on air.

At least preseason football doesn't have players who have been removed from the game running wind sprints in the outfield as the game is going on. And at the ends of the games you get to watch rookies who will actually be on the team and often wind up being starters and/or significant contributors... I don't have any idea what to make of ST baseball performance (besides nothing) and it's easier to eye test football.

http://www.670thescore.com/topic/play_window.php?audioType=Episode&audioId=3942233 Jerry Angelo on the Score today... Zaidman's Tweets about this interview (read bottom to top, too lazy to reorder them)... # ZachZaidmanFor the complete Angelo interview: http://bit.ly/R0AJ13 minutes ago from web # Zach Zaidman ZachZaidmanAngelo also believes the defense line will be more productive and disciplined with Marinelli in charge and Smith calling plays.4 minutes ago from web # Zach Zaidman ZachZaidmanAngelo says he's confident that Harris will be better and stronger this year and continue to be a difference maker in big game situations5 minutes ago from web # Zach Zaidman ZachZaidmanAngelo says the Bears are thinking big picture with Harris. They don't want him to go through "wear & tear" during training camp.6 minutes ago from web # Zach Zaidman ZachZaidmanAngelo says he's comfortable with the program the team has for Harris. He says Harris played a lot of snaps last season.7 minutes ago from web # Zach Zaidman ZachZaidmanAngelo says Ogunleye has looked as good as he's seen him and expects big years from Brown & Anderson8 minutes ago from web # Zach Zaidman ZachZaidmanAngelo says for the Bears defense to work the team has to get a rush from all 4 defensive lineman9 minutes ago from web # Zach Zaidman ZachZaidmanAngelo says, "you can't minimize good coaching."10 minutes ago from web # Zach Zaidman ZachZaidmanAngelo says the Bears have to play better defense, but feels strongly the team will be more consistent on that side of the ball11 minutes ago from web # Zach Zaidman ZachZaidmanAngelo says in the NFL today defense keeps you in the game, but the offense has to win it12 minutes ago from web # Zach Zaidman ZachZaidmanAngelo says with Cutler the Bears can now use the whole offensive playbook12 minutes ago from web # Zach Zaidman ZachZaidmanAngelo tells Mully & Hanley that Ron Turner's offense might have been handcuffed in the past. Lack of consistent play at QB13 minutes ago from web

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/nflnation/0-10-105/Research-shows-Marino-should-be-Comeback-King.html

I'm with Flames... ST baseball is far worse. Not even close.

This is the NFL Network piece with the Urlacher interview and the Cutler talk... http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-training-camps/09000d5d811ce865/Bear-ing-down

Total Access (on NFL Network) did a short piece on the Bears with Baldinger. Interviewed Urlacher and talked about Cutler and the receiving corps a little bit. Look out for it on the replays, it was pretty positive.

http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?story_id=5995

Zaidman said today that Cutler's preferred targets were, in order Olsen, Hester, Bennett, Rideau, Aromashodu Mentioned that Knox and Iglesias had shown flashes.... anyway, no mention of Davis. I think Davis drops too many balls for Jay's liking.