Bears: August 2008 Archives

The Bears finished 1-3 in the preseason - barely, following a 16-10 win over winless Cleveland on Thursday -- and have a host of problems to beset that record.

Can anyone really say the preseason won't foreshadow the regular season?

I'm tired of hearing the preseason doesn't count and detailed why in The Sun, but I'm open to edgy refuting. Spill.

Bears head coach -- and now fashion model -- Lovie Smith graces the pages of GQ next month. The magazine claims there's 73 reasons to think we're living in a new golden age of football, and Smith's part of reason No. 12 -- "style is (finally) returning to the sidelines."

Pictured in between, but much larger than, Chiefs coach Herm Edwards and Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, Smith gets credit for wearing "some coachy stuff (the Bears down jacket, the knit cap), but the difference is, it fits him."

Some other classic lines in the write-up:

"Marvin Lewis doesn't look like he sleeps on the training table at night, living off Ritz Bits and Muscle Milk...Mike Tomlin wears Versace shades -- and looks good in a suit, not like a teenager making his first court appearance (see Bill Belichick)...Marvin Lewis and Tony Dungy and Herm Edwards, who wear clothes that not only are clean and ironed but appear to have been picked out with the lights on."

Drop a few of your own personal coach blasts or pats on the back here -- now.

If Lovie Smith truly made his decision to start quarterback Kyle Orton based on preseason games, then he needs to name Rashied Davis a starting receiver this week just as quickly as he named Orton.

Following the Bears loss to Seattle last week, Smith removed the forward slash (or is it backward slash?) that linked Kyle Orton/Rex Grossman to the first-string quarterback slot. He should take the same action with Davis and (rather, slash) Devin Hester today.

Davis caught two touchdown passes in a loss to the 49ers on Thursday while Hester caught one pass for negative two yards. Here's the deal: Hester's nothing more than a hype machine for the Bears offense. Sure, he'll figure prominently at times this season, but his consistent presence should be on special teams where he has yet to impress this pre season.

"He's made all the plays. He's had an outstanding training camp," Smith said of Davis, the fourth-year Bears receiver out of the Arena Football League. "He just became a new dad, so a lot of good things are happening in his life."

Smith can continue that trend with one simple keystroke.

Bears coaches contend preseason performances will determine which quarterback, either Rex Grossman or Kyle Orton, will start at Indianapolis on Sept. 7.

In reality, not only do stat lines and game tape against Kansas City and Seattle and so forth not matter, but Lovie Smith and his team of decision-makers would be better suited spinning a bottle or throwing darts to determine the lucky winner.

This quarterback competition is merely a formality. Over the last three years Grossman and Orton have given the Bears plenty to see, too much to actually believe anything they do in limited preseason action will make or break their future.

Even though the Bears have yet to announce their opening-day starter, the answer's simple. With one year left on Grossman's contract and two left on Orton's, give Grossman the starting nod and don't pull the plug on him until absolutely necessary.

Garrett Wolfe, who starred at Northern Illinois before getting drafted in the third round last year, still feels he has something to prove every time he steps on the field.

When he did that in the Bears preseason opener Thursday at Soldier Field, he walked away as the only Bears running back with a touchdown. Wolfe raced just about all 25 yards of the 25-yard scoring pass from Rex Grossman after catching the ball.

Wolfe ended the game with 89 total yards - 64 on the ground - and said afterward that he feels he could be a No. 1 running back if given the chance.

"I think all of us feel that," Wolfe said. "All of us - me, Adrian (Peterson), P.J. (Pope), Matt (Forte), Kevin (Jones). We're all confident in our abilities, and at some point we've all played the No. 1 running back. This is a different level, but I feel I can do anything I set my mind to."

Seconds before the Bears kicked off to the Chiefs on Thursday at Soldier Field, the Bears announced what could be a season-ending injury to rookie tackle Chris Williams.

Williams, the Bears first-round draft choice, underwent surgery on a herniated disc in his lower back either late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning, according to Bears Senior Director of Corp. Communications Scott Hagel.

Hagel said there's no set timetable for his expected return. He will remain on the 53-man roster.

OK, so most people will be concentrating on how Kyle Orton and Rex Grossman do in their plays at quarterback tonight in the preseason opener.

But what about the wide receiver position? With the departures of Bernard Berrian and Muhsin Muhammad, the elevation of Devin Hester and the return of Marty Booker, who will begin to emerge as the top two threats?