CrackerDog

It looked like nothing. And he walked off pretty easily. Hopefully just a minor strain or sprain. He looks like a good player so far.

It's interesting if you try to do the math it's hard to field ST's without some starters. You have to eliminate all QB's, all starters, all fat guys, the punter or the kicker, depending... But Peanut shouldn't be out there! And I can live with letting 1rst rounders off the hook too.

Per Ian Rapoport: https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/500104548510597121

We agree on this. I'm just saying that in the NFL it isn't uncommon. Urlacher was on ST as a rookie, IIRC. As to the injury, reports are X-Rays are negative.

All true. But it simply isn't unusual to see rookies, even highly drafted ones, on ST's until they become starters. Hopefully his injury is minor.

Looked a lot like 2013 out there today. Offense has flashes, defense got NO pressure early. ST needs Hester. Here's hoping the dress rehearsal next week goes better.

First time I've agreed with you in years.

In 2001 I was at the game the Bears clinched the division by beating Jax. It was damn cold in early January in Soldier Field. Anyway, in the second half of the game Keith Traylor, a big defensive lineman, intercepted a Mark Brunnell pass and took it almost to the house. It may have been the best use of RUMBLIN' STUMBLIN' BUMBLIN' in ESPN's history. I recall it as knowing at that moment the game was over but I know Jax had some time after that and just didn't do anything. Jauron was the head coach and I thought we had something good building. The win that day combined with a Packers loss gave us the division, a bye and home field against what ended up being the Eagles. We lost that game pretty badly, IIRC. One of my favorite moments that day, besides Traylor's runback, was looking up at the scoreboard and seeing that Green Bay had lost and the division was ours.

Just thought I'd open a thread for tonight's game. I hope Cutler plays a quarter with the starters and then Jimmy shows he can handle this offense at least as well as we saw him do last week. Obviously the D Line will be a big thing I'll be watching. If they can build on the success they had last week that'll be very positive. #1 goal: Stay healthy!

I'll give him a bit of a break because he's breaking in so many new people but this needs to improve ASAP. If they aren't performing well by the third perseason game, he needs to be shitcanned. This team has too much potential to have ST lose us a game. One game can mean the difference between playoffs or not, home field or not, etc. The busts on Friday night were pretty big ones so Trestman needs to step in and show some leadership on this big part of team's production.

True. but his time away was meaningless to him and, as it turns out, beneficial to the team. We may not have learned that we have other solid options at TE without this happening. And seeing his teammates welcome him back was pretty cool. He's an important "leader" on the team and needed to be sent a message. I'd say this is "Mission Accomplished!"

Not that Palmer looked bad but I just like Jimmy better as our #2.

ST is a clusterfudge tonight. DeCamilus to the woodshed.

I agree pretty much across the board with this. However, the Bears will likely play the starters a series or two because we're at home.

Smart move on his part, IMO.

I think this suspension is bullshit if it's over that skirmish. If Bennett is slacking off that's another thing altogether and Trestman and Cutler need to tell him to get his head out of his ass.

Meh. I'm not concerned.

I didn't. Feels good. Now if we can just get the D a little mojo we may have something here.

It's probably earier to be more sure of himself when he isn't learning a new system every season. And more mature now with the wife and kids, maybe? Anyway, it appears to be translating to leadership which is a damn good sign.

Have fun dude! Wish I could be there but I'll be up in the north woods fishing.

Story here. Won't that just drive some of the haters here nuts? I'm sure rooting for Brandon to be right.

I disagree. I think Brian was great and deserves the HOF and probably some slack from us fans who are on him about his whiny bitch breakup period... But there were lots of other reasons to watch the Bears during his tenure here. I'm a fan of the whole team and there's only one player I've ever put ahead of that, Sweetness. If the Bears had broken up with #34 the way they did with #54, I'd have sided with Walter. Beyond that, the Bears very clearly offered Brian a good deal and he declined. I'm sorry he didn't get to go out on his terms but few do. I hope he handles his affairs during his post playing days with more class and dignity than he did while he was in the spotlight. Because while he was an awesome player, he was a ferkin' asshole. And I say that with all due respect.

The fantasy football update I read this morning said it's probably nothing but "sore foot" can becomme something more severe. Has anyone heard an update?

No biggie. I can't worry about people who don't want to participate in this forum for whatever reason. If you're here you're part of family and if you deserve a noogie because you're acting like a punk ass little brother, you'll get that. But always with love. Nobody here should take anything anyone else here says personally. It's an easy trap to fall into. Frankly, even this post breaks my golden rule of avoiding meta but I thought it was worth closing the book on this chapter. As to the original question in this thread, I posted a link to a CBS story that says players now have to show up by early August or they don't get credit for the year of service. I knew the new CBA was tougher on player holdouts than the previous ones but that's a lot tougher than I thought it was. In any case, I think you win your bet.

PS. I think the record is clear that I didn't chase him off. We had colorful disagreements but it was always just us breaking balls. It was a silly thread during silly season that pushed him over the edge.