AZ54

https://twitter.com/jmarcuswebb?original_re...906229414600705 J'Marcus Webb @jmarcuswebb I'm going dark. I won't be on for awhile. I need to prioritize, change up some things and make better choices. Peace. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seems like the same thing he said at the beginning of his recovery summer. It's not what we want to hear from any player in the middle of training camp when he came in knowing he was fighting for a job. I realize I have no idea of the context for this but nonetheless it's his statement that he has been making bad choices. For the record (again) I want Webb and every player in our training camp to do well.

No need to take my word for it, coach says Webb is struggling at times (albeit in a very polite way): http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/be...e-to-right.html

Newsflash....wouldn't that be a 4th or 5th option? I get the whole height thing but Pope is not a quick twitch athlete and that is needed to either adjust to the ball away from the defender or have good hands on a short pass that's a bullet. If you can lay the ball out there he'll catch it. http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-fantasy/0ap2...pe-1-yd-pass-TD That's what you get with Pope. He doesn't have great hands and usually bodies up against the ball to catch it. That won't work over his head. There's a reason he hasn't been used this way in seven years in the league (almost the end of his career) across 3 teams. I'll be happy to be wrong on this.

If true, wouldn't that mean half the teams in the NFL would want him on their roster? Or let's pare it down and say there should have been at least 8 teams that wanted him on their roster. Where was the bidding war or even the team visits? Four teams? Perhaps he was only better than the bottom 1/4 of MLB; at that point teams prefer to draft a younger player who is faster and more durable, which is exactly what we did. Urlacher is not a vet-minimum-salary depth guy, he's a Hall of Fame player who wanted to be a starter. He wasn't going somewhere just to be on a roster and act as a cheerleader. I respect and understand that sentiment and so did the NFL teams by not asking him to play for less. Bostic can't lead the defense like Urlacher could have, but when we see him run down one of these QB option plays everyone will notice the difference. It's already obvious in some of the training camp highlight films although they keep such tight angles on the video that it's hard to pick up. ..and I'm keeping my screen name AZ54 out of respect for the Hall of Fame player and what he did for our team. I'm not happy his run has ended, not even with the way it ended, but in the end it was clear his time was done and I'm happy he retired having only played for the Bears.

In his years here in AZ I never that 4.6 forty speed in a game. When he was younger he was tall and stiff when he ran routes and wasn't a threat to turn upfield with the ball and run away. I don't think that's any better these days. As a blocker he was again too tall and stiff. Let's cut to the chase....is he better than Fendi? I haven't seen Fendi play but most likely Pope is equal or somewhat better in all phases except running routes. We have some games to assess this competition but word I've seen is that Fendi's hands are very inconsistent. Not sure Pope is dramatically better in the hands department. All else being equal Pope's game experience puts him ahead of Fendi on final cuts. For all the chatter about Pope's height helping in the red zone he only has a total of 11 TDs in his seven year career and he's never had more than 250 yds receiving in a single season. I like the signing in light of our lack of depth at this position. If he can get the offense down he can certainly be a good 4th or 5th option on plays but I don't expect a lot from him.

3 WR, 1 TE (Bennett), and 1 RB Forte....... there are your 5 receivers. We will see that often.

At this point we've lost our starting LT and replaced him with Jonathan Scott. Fair enough we keep Webb on the right side where we want him to play this season. Then we lose Jonathan Scott and we replace him with...Eben Britton at LT? At this point I see that Webb is fading from our top 3 OTs. Not saying he's lost his job yet but if versatility is what Kromer wants among his top 7 Olinemen (he said so yesterday) then at some point among these injuries if Webb was one of our top 3 OTs he'd have been slid over to LT for a day or two while Britton, or Scott, took snaps at RT. That didn't happen and Kromer and Co. decided they preferred to see what Britton could do against Peppers. I'm not assigning roster spots to either Scott, Britton, or Webb at this point but the competition is starting to open up IMO. I look forward to more clues as the next week unfolds.

They are running offensive plays every 16 seconds, at least that's the goal, and when you do that consistently it takes a toll on the body. Our players will adapt, it's still early in camp and guys are getting into shape. I look forward to seeing that effect on opposing defenses in the 3rd and 4th quarters of games.

From the way-back machine: Joe Anderson college highlights I don't see a lot of speed (average) but he has great balance, runs with power, and can high-point the ball. Anyone who is first up to get time with the 1st string when BMarsh sits out a day is doing a lot of things well. If I were Earl Bennett I'd be looking over my shoulder for who might replace me in 2014. (although I don't know the cap implications if we were to cut ties with Earl next year)

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)