GakMan23

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/cs-08...,4432632.column Tuesday's 2-minute drill ... You might have heard Josh Beekman is short. He certainly has. Shorter than the attention spans at a day-care center. Shorter than Mike Ditka's temper. So short he cannot reach his potential without a boost. He's heard them all. Good thing Beekman's sense of humor about such things matches his sense of purpose — and that he's not short on confidence. David Haugh E-mail | Recent columns Related links Dan Pompei: Urlacher reborn, right down to his core Fred Mitchell: Gamblers also watching Favre situation 2008 Bears schedule Matt Forte will start exhibition against Chiefs Receiving hot, but returning a project for Earl Bennett "I'm considered to be a short guy, but hey, it doesn't matter — leverage is leverage," the Bears' 6-foot-2-inch, 310-pound offensive lineman said. "Go out and get your pads under the other guy, get position and get the job done. This is a low man's game. Height really doesn't matter." This is reinforced to Beekman every day at practice when he stands next to perennial Pro Bowl center Olin Kreutz,also listed at 6-2. When Beekman speaks about the veteran tips Kreutz shares about leverage, alignment or hand placement, he sounds like a young scientist lucky enough to share a laboratory with Albert Einstein. "Olin really reminds me of my dad, a tough-nosed guy, a disciplinarian, who leads by example," Beekman said. "He's been a great coach, and I'm just humbled to be learning from him. Everything he says to me, I just soak it up." In recent days, Beekman has been lining up alongside Kreutz more often at left guard with the No. 1 offense as Terrence Metcalf nurses a bruised right knee. Metcalf had his knee drained but reiterated Monday he expects to start Thursday's game against the Kansas City Chiefs. But Beekman's experience in Metcalf's place, as well as when he filled in for the ailing Kreutz at center the first week of camp, has allowed the Bears to see they have another viable candidate for the starting spot. The second-year player from Boston College might even be further along in his development if the Bears had played him during the final three meaningless games of 2007 when they switched John St. Clair to guard, but Beekman never complained or second-guessed. That might blur a focus that is laserlike when it comes to football. "I think you've got to be serious about your job," Beekman said. "I don't think I have a right or a privilege yet to be joking around or goofing off. I have one year in the league, a blip, compared to some of these guys who have seven or 11." The Bears would be pleased if Beekman held on to the job long enough to be one of those guys. With Metcalf not establishing himself as the clear-cut best man for the position even before the injury, Beekman gives the Bears an opportunity to get younger at the position. If he shows he can open holes and protect the quarterback well enough in exhibition games, it also would allow the Bears to keep St. Clair at tackle to buy more time for rookie Chris Williams. The long and short of it for Beekman? The opportunity he thought about often during the equivalent of his NFL redshirt season might have arrived. "I just have to keep up the pace," Beekman said. "They are a hard-working group on the [offensive line], quick studies, and perfectionists. I have to bring more positives than negatives. They have so many years under their belt. I just have to be as good as they want me to be." ... It might have been just a slip, but Rex Grossman's honest assessment of his mind-set heading into Thursday night's exhibition opener suggests he and Kyle Orton have been told when they will find out which of the two will be named the starter: before the Aug. 21 game against San Francisco. "This is obviously a competition, so you want to play your best and put your best foot forward in these two preseason games ... three ... however many," Grossman said. "I don't know when the final verdict comes in." Sounds like he just might. ... Garrett Wolfe can hope to fit in as a third-down back, and his shiftiness indeed gives the Bears' offense a different dimension if they so choose. But general manager Jerry Angelo said from the day he drafted Matt Forte that part of Forte's appeal was that he was a three-down back — a factor that gave him an edge over Cedric Benson.Anybody who has seen Forte look natural catching the ball or has heard coaches and teammates talk about how solid he seems in pass protection might have a hard time figuring out why he would come off the field on third downs now that he's running more with the No. 1 offense. ... The Bears still need to consider adding a veteran quarterback as insurance and have the numbers of Tim Rattay and Craig Nall if Chris Simms cannot be pried out of Tampa Bay. But if the Packers hold on to Brett Favre instead of dealing him, that would give Green Bay four quarterbacks and increase the likelihood they would place seventh-round pick Matt Flynn of LSU on the practice squad — where he could sign with another team. What better way for the Bears to mess with their rival than pluck a player off the practice squad who might upgrade a position lacking depth? ... Two questions about the Bears' first two opponents emerged over the weekend, and the answers could determine whether the team gets off to a surprising start to a killer road schedule: Will Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith exercise his right to appeal a two-game suspension for fighting and get it reduced so he can play Sept. 14? Are the Colts protecting backup quarterback Jim Sorgi by playing him only one series because they know or fear Peyton Manning's recovery from surgery on his left knee will take longer than expected? ... Whether it was Grossman finally getting hot Sunday or Orton creating a buzz last Friday night at Soldier Field, it pays to remember that at this stage of the preseason, daily practice updates provide snapshots of that moment more than a projection of things to come. It's instructional (and humbling) to look at what this column observed after the first week or so of camp in 2007 : "Judging by the zip and accuracy of his passes so far, nobody reported to camp more serious about improving than Rex Grossman. Some of his throws make ones thrown by Brian Griese or Kyle Orton look and sound like Triple-A fastballs in comparison." After three regular-season games, Grossman was benched. Lesson: Don't start keeping score in this quarterback derby until the teams do.

Per the Score Metcalf just had authroscopic knee surgury

Metcalf has knee problem Vaughn McClure, 12:22 p.m. Terrence Metcalf emerged from the dining room with a sleeve protecting his right knee. The left guard said he had the knee drained Friday after it swelled, and he's not sure how the injury occurred. "It's no big thing," he said. He expects to play in Thursday's exhibition against the Chiefs. And he expects to start if he does play. "Heck yeah, I'll be running with the first team," he said. Metcalf has yet to be cleared for Monday night's practice. Josh Beekman has been working at left guard in his place.

I sure hope we don't draft another DT or DE. He has drafted both positions almost every year he has been here and if he still needs to add to either of those positions....

"Could someone go out on a limb and predict if any of our five 7th round picks will do anything??? The way it's going now, unless it's the IR or the practice squad, none of those 5 will make it past the September 1st cuts. Which pisses me off since on draft day, JA was constantly trading down to get extra picks. Extra picks don't help if they can't make the team." Thank you this is the thing that drives me nuts as well. Trading down for the sake of extra picks doesn't mean beans if after trading down so far they are in such a deluted talent pool they don't have the skills to make the team.

I think we should try and get him. He still has the skills to pay the bills COWBOYS TO CUT GLENN Posted by Mike Florio on July 25, 2008, 11:47 p.m. The Dallas Cowboys plan to release veteran receiver Terry Glenn, bringing to an end a lengthy squabble regarding whether Glenn would agree to take a drastically reduced payment in the event that his bad knee would have resulted in his placement on injured reserve. Owner Jerry Jones claims that the move isn’t the result of Glenn’s refusal to accept a lower salary if he can’t play. “That turned out not to be an issue,” Jones said. ”At the end of the day it had more to do with where we are right now . . . all that might have impacted how we give our young players a chance in how we evaluate that position.” Glenn was due to earn a base salary of $1.74 million. Jones wanted Glenn to take only $500,000 if the knee were to implode. Immediate speculation likely will center on Glenn signing with the Dolphins, given that Miami V.P. of football operations Bill Parcells drafted Glenn to the Patriots in 1996, and brought Glenn to the Cowboys in 2003. Glenn spent five seasons with the Cowboys, but played only one game in 2007 before his knee prevented him from any further action.

Bears | Orton appears to have upper hand Fri, 25 Jul 2008 08:36:59 -0700 John Clayton, of ESPN.com, reports Chicago Bears QB Kyle Orton appears to have the edge over QB Rex Grossman in the team's quarterback competition. At this point, the job appears to be Orton's to lose because he has less of a chance of losing games. Orton simply makes fewer mistakes than Grossman, even though Grossman possesses the stronger arm.

Bears | Bradley's status for start of camp unknown Mon, 21 Jul 2008 07:16:58 -0700 Brad Biggs, of the Chicago Sun-Times, reports Chicago Bears WR Mark Bradley's (knee) status for the start for training camp is unknown.

I stated that this particular drill was to work on footwork. Orton may not have that problem and therefore is working on other aspects of his game he feels he needs extra work on and was probably working on those instead of the footwork issues. i never stated Orton doesn't have aspects of his game he doesn't need work on. I was stating that those other issues may be stuff he needs to focus on rather then the issues Rex has.

If he doesn't have footwork problems, why would he be focusing on fixing a problem he doesn't have as that was the drill they were working on for that particular issue? I would assume he is going over other aspects of his game he needs improvement on.

Bears | Team interested in L. Jordan? Tue, 8 Jul 2008 08:16:59 -0700 Bill Williamson, of ESPN.com, reports the Chicago Bears are a potential suitor for the services of Oakland Raiders RB LaMont Jordan via trade.

FAVRE CAN EASILY PUT PACKERS IN A BIND Posted by Mike Florio on July 3, 2008, 6:02 p.m. Adam Schefter of NFL Network lays out the procedure that quarterback Brett Favre would follow if/when he decides to play football again. Favre currently is on the reserve/retired list. To be activated from it, Favre only has to send written notice to the Packers and to the league of his desire to play. The Packers would then have 24 hours to reinstate Favre, or to release him. The other possibility would be to activate Favre and then attempt to trade him, if the Packers don’t want him back on the team. But they would be required to use a roster spot on him until he is traded. As to whether the Packers want Favre, Schefter reports that there are folks in the organization who go both ways on the issue. As to whether Favre wants to play, Schefter confirms that Favre is training as if he’s returning. If he chooses to do so, the Packers have limited options — and there’s a good chance that they like none of them.

BEARS REACH DEALS WITH THREE ROOKIES Posted by Michael David Smith on July 1, 2008, 1:42 p.m. The Bears announced today that they have signed one of their draft picks and come to contract agreements with two others. Defensive tackle Marcus Harrison, a third-round pick out of Arkansas, signed a four-year contract. Harrison is a big talent with two big question marks: He suffered a torn ACL in the spring of 2007 and was arrested in August and accused of having an ecstasy pill and marijuana in his vehicle. If Harrison stays healthy and stays out of trouble, the Bears got a steal. If not, GM Jerry Angelo will have to answer why he used a third-round pick on a guy with character and injury issues. Wide receiver Earl Bennett and cornerback Zack Bowman have not yet signed, but have both agreed to four-year deals. Bennett was a third-round pick out of Vanderbilt, where he was very productive as a slot receiver. He’s expected to get significant playing time as a rookie. Bowman was a fifth-round pick out of Nebraska whose knees kept him off some teams’ draft boards; he tore the ACL in his left knee in March 2006 and ruptured the patellar tendon in his right knee in March 2007. The Bears always try to move quickly in getting their drat picks signed before training camp, and this year is no exception. Chicago has now signed or agreed to terms with 10 of its 12 draft picks, the most of any NFL team. Permalink | Comments Back to Top

This staff is starting to really worry me. We went 7 and 9 last year, got rid of our best WR, and they are happy with the way the team looks. We haven't added any players to improve this team thru free agency and are expecting all the problems we had to be fixed by unproven players picked up in the draft. Either Jerry has truly lost his mind or he is so arrogant he thinks he can draft stars with every pick he makes in the draft.

MARCUS ROBINSON RETIRES AS A BEAR Posted by Josh Alper on June 9, 2008, 11:16 a.m. In a move greeted with less fanfare than Brett Favre’s, wide receiver Marcus Robinson has announced his intention to retire as a member of the Chicago Bears. Robinson actually had retirement thrust upon him when the Vikings cut him on Christmas Eve 2006 after he criticized Brad Childress and others with the team. He tried to catch on with the Detroit Lions - Matt Millen never met a wide receiver he didn’t like - but they didn’t have a spot for him. Robinson spent three years with the Vikings and was with the Ravens for one season in 2003. Robinson spent five years with Chicago, including his remarkable 1999 campaign. That probably explains why he’s going the Bill Schroeder route in retirement. In 1999 he caught 84 balls for 1,400 yards and nine touchdowns but battled injuries the next two seasons and never approached such lofty numbers again. He never lost his nose for the end zone, though, finishing with 43 touchdowns on his 325 career receptions.

Bears | Olsen impressive Thu, 5 Jun 2008 10:26:50 -0700 Larry Mayer, of ChicagoBears.com, reports Chicago Bears TE Greg Olsen has been one of the most impressive players during the team's minicamp and offseason workouts. He continues to beat linebackers on pass patterns down the field. Hopefully it's a sign of things to come this upcoming season.

Can you say bye bye Thugerella....aka RMJ.

Bears | Quarterback competition could be long one Mon, 2 Jun 2008 07:46:06 -0700 The Associated Press reports Chicago Bears head coach Lovie Smith said he is prepared to let QB Rex Grossman and QB Kyle Orton compete for the team's starting quarterback job until the fourth game of the preseason. "Ideally you would like to have someone in place going into that last week of the preseason," Smith said. "But we'll just let it play out. If it's not clear by then, we'll let it go right up until (preseason's end)."

Count me in

Ok first and formost Training camp is used to get timing down and learn players tendencies. When a player doesn't play with those individuals during this timeframe they dont build a Repor with the other starters as they are not practicing with them. Throwing a player out there after preseason and training camp without having played with the people around you puts the individual at a disadvantage. Orton has never been given the opportunity before this year, as he has been the 3rd string QB, to take significant reps with the starters and get used to their tendencies. THAT is the problem I believe most people have had. Getting to practice between weeks after a player goes down does not give a player time to get timing down and game speed down until they have played a few games. Orton's numbers were getting better and he was getting more comfortable last year and for once didn't have a skeleton version of the playbook to run. We have seen what Grossman can do, he is inconsistant. People now want to see what Orton can given the same reps and chance to win the starting job, not to mention how he will look with a full preseason and training camp with the first team to get the timing down. I hope either or both of them have a breakout year and we have a nice problem of having 2 starter quality NFL QB's on the team instead of none.

Orton is a backup based on what? He hasn't been given a fair shake were Grossman has been spoonfed the first team. I think most people on here would love to have EITHER of them succeed. The problem I believe most have is that Orton hasn't been given an equal opportunity to succeed for whatever reason and they want to see him given an equal opportunity to prove he is an NFL caliber QB. I know I sure have noticed he has alot better pocket presense the Grossman as far as stepping up into the pocket to avoid sacks.

Don't forget to take into account the weather in the Packer game, where Orton outplayed Brett Favre.

"Cedric Benson The Bears have invested too much to cut him loose without getting all the facts about his arrest. He's a hard guy to trust, yes, but a team desperate for a spark in the running game can ill afford to simply discard a runner who they think might benefit from a revamped offensive line. The bigger question revolves around Benson's surgically repaired ankle, which has been said to be weaker than before he broke it in Week 12. Right now he's probably No. 1—with an asterisk." From Chicago Tribue. Interesting what they have to say about his ankle being weaker then before the injury. Maybe concern for reinjury?

I see JA's ultimate plan is to have every pick in the 7th round. That is where all the good players are found. hahaha

Bears | Team has many targets in draft Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:08:41 -0700 The Northwest Herald reports the Chicago Bears have clearly stressed the need for offensive line help in this year's NFL Draft. In addition, the team will also consider selecting a running back, quarterback, wide receiver and a defensive lineman. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bears | Offensive line is key Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:03:04 -0700 The Northwest Herald reports Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner said everything starts with a good offensive line. "You can't win in this league without being solid and good up front," Turner said, "no matter how good your back is, no matter how good your quarterback is. It all starts up there." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bears | Team could trade up in draft Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:53:56 -0700 The Northwest Herald reports Chicago Bears general manager Jerry Angelo said he is not ruling out the option of the team trading up in this year's NFL Draft. Angelo thinks there are about 10 special players in this year's draft class. However, since Angelo joined the team in 2001, they have never traded up in the first round. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bears | Team not ruling out trade for Gould Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:53:26 -0700 The Associated Press reports Chicago Bears general manager Jerry Angelo said the team does not anticipate trading PK Robbie Gould and have not had any discussions with other teams. However, Angelo said if a trade became available that would make the team better, they would look to possibly trade. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bears | Team not ruling out trade for Hester Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:52:58 -0700 The Associated Press reports Chicago Bears general manager Jerry Angelo said the team does not anticipate trading WR Devin Hester and have not had any discussions with other teams. However, Angelo said if a trade became available that would make the team better, they would look to possibly trade. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bears | Team not ruling out trade for T. Harris Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:52:23 -0700 The Associated Press reports Chicago Bears general manager Jerry Angelo said the team does not anticipate trading DL Tommie Harris and have not had any discussions with other teams. However, Angelo said if a trade became available that would make the team better, they would look to possibly trade. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bears | Team not ruling out trade for Urlacher Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:42:57 -0700 The Associated Press reports Chicago Bears general manager Jerry Angelo said the team does not anticipate trading LB Brian Urlacher and have not had any discussions with other teams. However, Angelo said if a trade became available that would make the team better, they would look to possibly trade. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------