DABEARSDABOMB

Ya, if he dumped Rosen I think that would be a serious step in getting this thing done. However, JA has successfully negotiated with Rosenprick in the past and I for one hope he'll be able to eventually get Briggs locked up. I am real happy that Lance has realized that the contract stuff ends now and the business and on the field stuff starts now. Its a major positive and I Think it will show Angelo more about who Lance Briggs is.

Ya, he was signed as an undrafted FA shortly after the draft.

His attitude was a breath of fresh air for two years. We give the guy an opportunity and get him in an offense where he really fits well. He goes out and does good for one season (has some injury problems) and a bit better in season two and after being such a mature player he pretty much spits on the Bears. I think a lot of it has to do with Rosenhaus infiltrating his mind, but still you got to go out and be strong enough to make the right decision and remember who gave you a chance and that you still have 2 years remaining on a contract that YOU agreed to.

That type of behavior is becoming more and more common with Bears players (or so it seems we've had more guys involved in criminal activity) and I don't think it should be tolerated. I'd release him

Plus I can't get past the fact that when Brown is hurt (and he gets hurt every year now) the secondary isn't near as good. Brown really covers for Harris and other guys that are out there and when instead of Brown we have two weaker links out there than we are in trouble. I'm hoping in time Manning's speed and ability will mend that and give us tremendous depth but as of now Manning won't be capable of coming in and doing that.

The contract situations and WR are by far the two biggest concerns i have. This team is not as good with Briggs out and it will be important to reach a pact with him. The WR core is very thin, especially if Berrian and Bradley prove there injury riddled past weren't flukes, but instead trends. Along with that injuries can always really hurt a team, whether its losing major contributors to our line, Urlacher, or anyone else thats very valuable.

Great article. Last year the thing that frustrated me the most is they let the success get to them and they got "overly" cocky. Because of that they thought they were better than they are and since they whooped the Panthers once they made the assumption that it would be easy to do it again. I hope the players and coaching staff learned a major lesson from that game. They should have learned that you better be able to adjust your game plan on the fly and that you also need to realize that you can throw out prior games when you play again in the playoffs because anything can happen the next time you meet.

I realize we added a ton of members to the secondary but I wouldn't be against a guy like Smith who could be a backup for a year to a guy like Mike Brown. We know Brown is injury prone and while I like Chris Harris and I think Manning has potential, I'm not exactly thrilled at the notion of Harris and Manning in the same secondary while Mike Brown is down for an extended period of time. I'm not sure what happened with Smith in New Orleans, but he was pretty solid for the Bucs where he thrived in the cover 2 system.

Ya, we have some of the best special team players in the league. Now its a matter of Hester and Davies and whoever else making a major impact in the return area. We no longer have Zoom returning kicks (not that he was really anything like his old self the few times we had him doing it) and Fumble Wade is gone. If the return game can improve it could really help the field position battle and get the offense in range to score more. In terms of kicking I liked Gould as a rookie but he seems to lack leg strength as any long kicks were iffy but he was as good as gold on shorter kicks. Huston has a rocket leg but really struggled with accuracy on deep kicks. I hope Maynard can come back and I'm not convinced on Stelly but the kid does have a booming leg.

When I think of him I think of all the false starts this team collected a couple seasons ago. Oh and did I mention holding penalties. I hope our line holds up though because the lines are what seperates good teams from bad teams in the NFL and even more so in the college game.

I thought it was a pretty damn good preview. The little section on Benson/Jones was very interesting and I wouldn't be shocked if the Bears got some pretty good offers for Jones, especially if another team lost one of its top backs in the pre-season. It was also interesting to hear about Rex and Brian. The author seems to think Brian is going to put a lot of pressure on Rex and he isn't the first writer/analyst that I've heard say that Griese could very well turn into the starter. Personally I think Rex is the guy. He has the tools and the attitude and its just a matter of him getting more experience and staying healthy. I really do see Rex becoming the face of this franchise as long as he can stay on the field.

He was a pretty solid depth guy but we have picked up quite a few guys that can play multiple positions over the years and it seems like Q fell out of love. He'll catch on somewhere relatively quickly though. He's started games and is capable of playing multiple positions.

I hope he has an apple laptop...those are tasty

I'm not a huge fan of Hester as a CB right away but I think he's going to make an immediate impact on special teams (especially Punt Returns) and that alone should have a major impact on our offense. Heck, if he can catch the ball and hold onto it he's already light-years better than what we had to offer last season.

http://www.chicagobears.com/news/newsDetail.jsp?id=16162 I was really glad to see the comments about Briggs. The coach said some nice things and said that Briggs did have a very good minicamp (whichever one he showed up to). Said that he's a team player and understands the game is a business (But he's getting paid to do his job) and he'll be here ready to play. In regards to Hunter, he says that he's gotten a little faster and stronger over the off-season and they once again refer to him being able to play any of the LB positions. I think the long term plan is to use him as a super sub/depth guy, especially if Williams can produce in time. In terms of Williams, not much was said about him but it appears the team has moved from Wil to SAM and he's picked up both pretty well.

Interesting....this is the only negative blurb I've heard on Benson all year and it comes from Rotoworld. Not sure where Rotoworld got it from.

Larry Mayer answered this question (he's the writer for the Bears official site). Sounds to me like he thinks Runnels and I'm guessing its because of what he's seen/heard of Runnels thus far in the various mini camps mixed with the fact that Johnson is always hurt. I'm glad we got ourselves a legit FB that should get better for years to come. He's a darn good blocker whose capable of catching a few passes a season.

The Quarterback's Will Bring on An Offensive Renaissance By Jason Gage TalkBears.com The 2005 Chicago Bears took the league by storm. Led by a vaunted defense, they were able to overcome playing with as bad of an offense as there was in football. The team lacked a quarterback, had trouble finding a receiver that could catch the ball, and as a result had trouble putting points on the board (29th in offense). With that in mind, Bears General Manager Jerry Angelo went out to build an offense…right??? WRONG. Angelo instead focused defense, working to improve their secondary and defensive depth. Instead of improving a weakness, Angelo went the route of strengthening a strength. This was to the chagrin of many Bears fans and analysts around the league were left scratching there heads. But the ‘06 Bears (and Bengals) will enter training camp (on July 27th in Bourbonnais, Illinois) with more returning starters than any team in the league. Yes, that means most of an unheralded offense is coming back. Thomas Jones will look to show the Bears (or a trade partner) that he is a franchise back. The offensive line will attempt to continue to open up holes in an effort to remain one of the best rushing attacks in the league. At the same time that line is going to have to protect opponents from teeing off on quarterback’s Rex Grossman, Brian Griese and Kyle Orton (as Bear fans, we’ve come to expect all 3 QB’s to get some action). However, most importantly, Grossman will look to prove to Bears fans, the coaching staff, and the rest of the league that he is the quarterback of the present and future. Two major injuries and one playoff start are Grossman’s career in a glance. In 06, he’ll look to put himself in position to get a few more playoff starts than injuries. Jerry did make one move this off-season on the offensive side of the ball. That one move and one position was all that Jerry Angelo had to upgrade to improve this offense (QUARTERBACK). Grossman is the best QB this team has had in years (sadly, I’m not even going out on a limb as I yearn for the days of Erik Kramer), but if he isn’t able to complete the season, the Bears have a competent, veteran QB named Brian Griese. Signed to an off-season deal, Griese gives the Bears much needed stability at the QB position. Angelo hopes this stability will carry right over to the offense. Angelo may not have said it directly, but he did so indirectly by not making any major upgrades to the receiving corps. Instead Angelo, Lovie Smith and the rest of the coaching staff will hope that Grossman (or Griese) will be able to execute the passes and get the balls in the hands of the backs (Jones, Benson, Peterson) and receivers (Mushin, Berrian, Bradley, Gage, Currie, Davies). The offense now needs to step up and mature. Bradley and Berrian are both talented receivers, Benson and Jones have the ability to be solid backs (in Benson’s case an upper echelon back) and Grossman and Griese are both capable of making all the passes (especially Grossman). On July 17, the Bears old offense will disappear and the beginning of a new offense (with a year of Turner’s system under there belts) and a more balanced team needs to begin.

ESPN had someone on talking about football and they talked a bit about the Bears. Said Benson had a tremendous off-season and is up to 225 pounds. Went on to say that head coach Lovie Smith has a policy that if you aren't around the team during the off-season you don't run with the 1st string. Angelo made a short comment saying he didn't expect Jones to stay away from training camp, but I guess it is a possibility.

I do think Vasher's play deserved a shot but those baseball catches were pretty damn impressive too. However, Vasher's is a record breaker and neither of those catchers were record breakers, imo. Not to mention Vasher's return pretty much won the game and helped give us a bit more momentum. Rowands play saved the game for them, but where are the Phils now?? Wright's play was nice but I don't think it was a game saver.

Ya, I'm so glad its part of my cable. For a while it wasn't. Of course I don't watch it near enough, but as football season gets closer I'll be watching it more and more.

Thats until I skin Soxtalk up. Working on doing it in about 5 minutes.

Now its time to get this site rocking...9 days till training camp

Three cheers go out to Kalapse and Heads...what an amazing job they did.

Bears are a solid team and they are capable of winning a superbowl, but like any superbowl winner things are going to have to go right for you. You got to get a couple breaks, stay healthy, and play very strong football. With our defense this team is definately capable, but all it takes are a few key injuries and we got no chance. But you can say that about pretty much any team in the league.