AZ54

Ditto the thanks for the camp update. A couple thoughts on the thread discussion: 1) I don't think the best place for Long, who is learning his technique, is protecting the edge this season. If he doesn't make it as a starter I prefer to have him backup OG and let Scott take over at RT. 2) Given the progress he has made and his new 330lb physique I can see Brown competing for the starting role this year but I think it's most likely he can develop into a starter at OG in year 3. When I hear him talk about Brown, Trestman sounds confident in Brown's improvement but hopeful that Long will end up the starter there. OG is still a new position for Brown one he admits he is still adjusting to. This is true for Long as well but Long has more athleticism to make up for mistakes. 3) Listening to Kyle Long talk about how picky Kromer is regarding technique and and the multiple new blocking assignments I'm not confident in Webb at all. He has never seemed to handle blocking stunts or delayed rushes well. We all know his limitations in blocking in space. Possible outcomes for Webb go from starting RT to unemployment line and perhaps not much in between. If Webb is still struggling with the mental aspects of what Kromer is trying to teach and other players such as Mills are progressing I don't think the coaching staff is going to be patient. 4) Don't count out Eben Britton competing for a roster spot, he seems to have changed his perspective for the better: http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/bears/post...ch-eben-britton If Webb isn't our starter at RT the in terms of competing for a backup role Britton has equivalent game experience. If he gets the program and is progressing faster than Webb then it's obvious which one you keep.

Lance Briggs said the offense runs a play every 16 seconds. To do that it means our coaches on both sides have to get the plays in very quickly. This alone will be a big difference from Martz and Tice who seemed to never know which play they wanted next, often pushing the play clock down to zero before we could snap the ball. I don't think we're going the way of Chip Kelly's offense where the goal is to run a play every 12 seconds no matter what. Trestman keeps the pressure up on the defense and offense to be ready for that. I expect Cutler to have more time, if he wants it, after breaking the huddle and getting everyone in position to read the defense. More time to back out of a play and call an audible too.

I agree but why the sudden change of heart after signing just a month ago? Is there a potential suspension out there that we'll never know about? I wondered about that as well. Then we went after the bride'smaid's bride's maid in signing Jamaal Anderson. Let's read the tea leaves: This quote: http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/be...-questions.html “We have a lot of guys competing,” Wootton said. “Aston Whiteside is a guy who stepped up this offseason, put on some size coming from defensive end to defensive tackle. And Nate Collins has been doing a great job playing both the [three-technique] and the nose.” The fact we signed Anderson seems to me a bit of a change in direction because he isn't much of a pass rusher and will likely compete for time at only NT. Did Ellis, who said he was looking forward to competing at the 3-T position read the writing on the wall and decide that he won't win a competition againsth Collins there, and doesn't want to or can't play at NT? Based on what he did in New Orleans last year he can't play at NT. In that case would he even make the roster? Perhaps this sudden retirement news means we found a 3rd DT ready to make plays in Collins?

Certainly from a fan's perspective this does not give me a warm fuzzy feeling about the future of our roster. I don't think it gives the players a warm fuzzy feeling either. Whatever the reasons for this situation, overall I can accept the fact our new coaches get a chance to shape the roster in a significant way quickly and the players know that. As long as we keep the right core players.

I don't know where I'd be if I didn't have you and my wife to correct me.

Agreed, I just hope he gets well and can live a normal life.

I think we won't have much choice in this matter.

Players' value could go down if they get injured too. I like this statement as mentioned above 1) it takes the issue off the table from the media and we know Emery likes to negotiate in private and 2) If there are players that would prefer to limit their risk in losing a rather large bonus by signing an extension early they'll have to consider the current cap situation and that means reduce their demands. I realize we can't be extending all these terminating contracts but a couple months ago there were some rumors that Melton and his group were negotiating with the Bears. If there was truly nothing that could be done they wouldn't have even been talking. Given his huge cap hit with the franchise tag this deal seems to be one where an extension could be done within our cap constraint.

I just can't understand why so many teams (or is it the players?) are taking this right up to the last minute. As I said, since a couple of those teams are in our division I'm ok with their approach.

I agree with LT, the media is blowing this out of proportion. Urlacher is not what he used to be physically but that doesn't mean he still doesn't desire to be on the field with his teammates. It would be frustrating for him to see them win the Superbowl the first season of his retirement but in no way do I think that means he does not want them to win it.

I guarantee you everyone on this board would love to see Webb surprise us. Despite criticisms and disagreements everyone here is a die-hard Bears fan. However, most of us have given up waiting for him to "get it". I've given up on ever seeing anything out of Unga and I'm not sure why he's still with the team. If Fendi has figured out how to play that would be awesome pairing him up with Bennett. He really needs to stand out in preseason games.

I'm amazed how many 1st Rd picks still have not signed their contract. I am very glad Emery kept Cliff Stein in the organization and continued to provide the resources to get all of our draft picks signed early. Detroit just got their 1st Rd pick signed yesterday and Packers and Vikings still don't have their picks signed. That's two of them for Minn.

I like Hardin's athletic ability and potential but it's hard for me to believe a guy who has played very little football over the last three seasons will suddenly play at a high level. I think he's a year away from that. That is if he stays healthy for most of the season and can participate in practices and perhaps get some game reps.

We're one week out from the start of training camp and it's time to get a feel for the players everyone is expecting to have a breakout season. I'm expecting Alshon Jeffrey to step up this year. He worked hard this offseason and is in far better shape than he was last year. I also think he learned some valuable lessons in those late games with all his pass interference penalties and will be more subtle in how he uses his size advantage this season.

http://www.chicagobears.com/events/training-camp.html

Rolando McClain. Tons of talent, no common sense. Yet this exercise really is easy because in life there are millions of people that are missing or lacking in that "one" area. They may still be successful, maybe very successful, maybe even make the Hall of Fame, but this is what makes the truly great ones so rare in sports. In my definition of great I'm talking about players who re-define their game. Gretzky, Peyton Manning, Jordan, The flip side to this are those players who are so transcendent in their abilities they still redefine how the game is played, or the standards for excellence, despite their personal flaws. Lawrence Taylor, Babe Ruth (Forgive me for deviating from football for some of those names)

I didn't know that so I stand corrected.

True that and also the locker room of the Cardinals, Raiders, 49ers. However, I think his point is more to the fact that despite all of his success coaching QBs and running an offense Trestman was never considered head coaching material during his first go around in the NFL. Despite massive success in the CFL (3 Grey Cup appearances in 5 years with 2 championships) he was still completely off the radar of every NFL team. Being a head coach is totally different than being an OC/DC. There have been many players in support of Trestman, mostly QBs, but there have been others who subtly questioned if he can handle the HC role. Now there is evidence Trestman has learned from being passed over for interviews in the past, plus his HC experience in the CFL, and he now has an understanding of what he must do to succeed as our HC. So far the job is easy, just run practices and everyone (most everyone) is happy we're going in a new direction. The lights will get brighter as he handles the team's first losing streak (talking about losing 2 in a row) whenever that may be.

Watch last night's video before you make your final decision. http://www.sanfermin.com/index.php/es/enci...s_2013/12-julio http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/sanferm...n-2013/1930589/ http://img.irtve.es/imagenes/momento-mas-a...73613422071.jpg

Then by correlation you feel Rex Grossman is qualified.

I thought I was the only football fan watching these bull runs in Pamplona but Rex Ryan is actually there: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap100000021...-once-but-twice Rex was lucky that bull just stopped at a huge pileup of people and never attacked anyone, especially considering how long it took him to get over the fence. My wife is Spanish and so we have TV broadcast from Spain and I watch the run nightly at 11pm. This is how I survive the worst sports month of the year. If anyone is interested the video of the daily bull runs is all here: http://www.sanfermin.com The videos of the daily runs are at the El Encierro link near the top. In terms of the ladies, this is a Mardi Gras style party in terms of its traditions. Proof can be found under the Fotos link.

Impossible for Lovie not to have known. We knew midseason something was wrong with Bush because his carries dropped off a lot. but there was never a report as to why at least none that I recall. If the coaches didn't know he was injured I find it hard to believe they just suddenly started giving him 3-5 carries a game. RECENT GAMES WK OPP RESULT RUSHING RECEIVING FUMBLES ATT YDS AVG LNG TD REC YDS AVG LNG TD FUM LOST 15 GB L 13-21 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 14 @MIN L 14-21 1 6 6.0 6 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 13 SEA L 17-23 7 39 5.6 15 0 0 0 -- -- 0 -- -- 12 MIN W 28-10 21 60 2.9 8 2 1 -1 -1.0 -1 0 -- -- 11 @SF L 7-32 5 9 1.8 6 0 1 18 18.0 18 0 -- -- 10 HOU L 6-13 3 34 11.3 20 0 -- -- -- -- -- 1 1 9 @TEN W 51-20 10 16 1.6 9 0 1 17 17.0 17 0 -- -- 8 CAR W 23-22 3 5 1.7 4 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 7 DET W 13-7 6 36 6.0 12 0 1 -3 -3.0 -3 0 -- -- 5 @JAC W 41-3 4 26 6.5 11 0 2 26 13.0 15 0 -- -- 4 @DAL W 34-18 10 29 2.9 5 0 1 8 8.0 8 0 -- -- 3 STL W 23-6 18 55 3.1 13 1 2 18 9.0 18 0 -- -- 2 @GB L 10-23 14 54 3.9 8 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 1 IND W 41-21 12 42 3.5 20 2 -- -- -- -- -- -- --

I was looking over our roster thinking about our starting lineup for this season and was surprised to see we really have just two battles for starting roles in training camp. I see our starters as: (names in caps have to battle) S: Conte, Wright (settled) I think there is a lot of competition for the spots behind these guys but can't see anyone pushing for a starting job, however the depth may be decent in terms of talent (Zib, Steltz, Hardin). CB: Tillman, Jennings Hayden is first off the bench here and behind him I can't believe we're looking at Zach Bowman again. LB: Anderson, Williams, Briggs. (settled --- however, Bostic might challenge Anderson at WLB but Anderson was a pretty talented player before his injuries. If he has put that behind him then I can't see Bostic overcoming the experience gap to earn a starting role) I like the rookies here and feel we finally have depth at LB. DT: Melton, Paea (settled) Behind these guys it's pretty much a "who dat?" among the competition. There is hope Ellis returns to the pass rushing form he had earlier in his career but he won't supplant Melton DE: Peppers, and WOOTTON -- SMC takes first-off-the-bench role. This is one of the few true competitions in training camp between Wootton/SMC. I think the bigger run stopper plays first with SMC handling more of the pass rush duties. I am surprised the Bears' webiste has Cornelius Washington listed as OLB. Can't say if that's a misprint or their intentions with him. C: Garza wishful to think we have an upgrade on the roster OG: Slauson, LONG I like what I'm hearing about James Brown performing well but I can't see Long not getting every opportunity to be the starter and I think he gets the nod. OT: Bushrod, Webb Thought there'd be some competition for Webb but as detailed in 5 pages of another thread that doesn't seem to be the case. TE: Bennett We have little to no depth behind him, worrisome at the league's most injured position QB: Cutler RB: Forte Bush as backup and FB: Fiammetta nobody else on the roster at this position. WR: Marshall, Jeffrey, Bennett behind these guys every player is battling just to make the roster Our starters can compete at a high level IMO but we have very little talent behind them. That usually doesn't bode well for making a run deep into the playoffs. We definitely need some positive surprises at multiple positions during the preseason among TE, WR, CB, DT and of course all eyes will be on the Oline as a whole.

After watching him play I really don't think he has the quick release mindset needed to succeed in our new offense. The question is does Cutler?

Have to say the previous regime did put some effort into righting the Oline ship with a couple first round picks, neither of which are on the team. They failed. My hope is that the new coaches can actually a) identify the raw talent better and coach that talent to be a productive blocker in the NFL. I have hope. I have no clue about blocking techniques but I do like how Kromer coaches not just the techniques but the situational tactics.