Bears: July 2008 Archives

By Chris Pummer
Staff Writer

Bears training camp begins today, and in earnest so does the team's quarterback competition between Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton.

Barring a preseason meltdown, Grossman's going to win. Despite his inability to put it all together, his upside is still that much greater than Orton's, and the team needs to hope for the best to overcome a questionable offensive line and an unproven running game.

In that sense they've both been set up to fail.

But if the team thought Orton would be a capable starter, Grossman would be wearing another uniform right now.

Orton will just have to settle for being the Steve Walsh to Grossman's Erik Kramer. Or if you really hate Grossman, the Erik Kramer to Rex's Rick Mirer.

By Chris Pummer
Staff Writer

Brian Urlacher got the contract extension that he clamored for through much of the offseason. And it basically looks the same as the one the Bears offered before the drawn-out haggling process became public.

So the face of the franchise gets some extra dough and the Bears don't waste too much space under the salary cap to put it in his pocket.

While Bears GM Jerry Angelo can be criticized for a number of personnel decisions, give him credit for this: He hasn't dished out any salary cap-busting contracts.

By Chris Pummer
Staff Writer

The Bears have signed running back Kevin Jones.

Jones, who is coming off a torn ACL in his right knee, will provide a little depth to a Bears backfield that looks thin after the release of Admiral Cedric Benson, but I don't know that there's a lot of reason to think he'll be anything more than that.

After rushing for 1,113 yards (and 4.7 per attempt) as a rookie in 2004, Jones' numbers have been in Rashaan Salaam territory, minus the fumbles. By that I mean his yards per carry have been way down. And that was before the Lisfranic fracture in his right foot late in the 2006 season.

It could be the system in Detroit changed, and that hurt Jones. The Lions went from Sherm Lewis as offensive coordinator in 2004 to Ted Tollner in 2005. Pass-first coordinator Mike Martz was in charge the last two seasons.

While this signing might end up being more like Edgar Bennett's farewell tour through Chicago, Jones might also be a pleasant surprise for the Bears.

By Chris Pummer
Staff Writer

The Tampa Tribune reports the Bears might have interest in acquiring Chris Simms, although they might just be parroting a report Pro Football Weekly had a few days ago. So take that with a grain of salt.

For his career Simms' numbers are probably pretty similar to Rex Grossman's, except that Simms' best season was better than any year Grossman has had. Plus there's probably the feeling that Simms still has more potential, while most think Grossman and Kyle Orton pretty much are what they are.

If interest really heats up, Sun-Times Bears beat writer Brad Biggs will probably have it first over on his blog.

By Chris Pummer
Staff Writer

As the Favre-Packers saga continued to unfold, someone asked me if I thought the Bears should make a play for the future Hall of Fame quarterback.

I said no. Not only is it a moot point, but how certain can we be that Brett Favre would be an upgrade? I know that sounds laughable considering the cast of clowns the Bears are rotating under center, but here's my reasoning.

Favre was obviously great last year with a 95.7 passer rating and 28 TDs to only 15 interceptions. But that's not the version of Brett Favre that's likely to take the field in 2008. Don't forget that the previous two seasons Favre posted passer ratings of 70.9 and 72.7. That was while throwing 38 TDs against a whopping 47 picks.

Those numbers from 2005 and 2006 sound an awful lot like Rex Grossman's career totals (70.9 passer rating, 31 TDs, 33 INTs).

Add in the Bears' weakness on the offensive line, the garbage bag full of receivers the team's QB will have to throw to and another candle on Favre's birthday cake, and I think the odds would be stacked against seeing the 2007 version of Favre lining up behind Olin Kreutz.

So while the addition of Favre might be a panacea for some other teams, he probably wouldn't do much good for the Bears even if he were truly available.