AZ54

Wasn't it Jacobs Urlacher steamrolled en route to a near sack? We don't practice tackling in camp so going from zero to tackling Jacobs is tough but I was glad to see they got better as the game went along.

I'd like to say Afalava stood out in large part because our safety situation is so tenuous but with DManning out the coaches felt good enough about him to move Payne over from SS to make room for Afalava with the number ones, and that all happened very quickly. So yes, with weak competition he has a good opportunity but to stand out but doing so that early means he knows his assignments and isn't just a big hitter. I think we'll still see DManning return to FS in large part because it sounds like Corey Graham is starting to settle into the nickle role.

More entertaining was watching take the direct hit on a blitz up the middle. He rolled off the carpet pretty slowly. I wonder what he was thinking after that play.

Far less concerned about WR than CB. If a decent vet is cut OR is dangled for a trade I bet we're making a move to bring them in.

Favre leads the NFL in INT's, all time. The only coach who got him under control was Holmgren. Since then you might as well flip a coin because it's good Favre -- bad Favre and just like a box of chocolates you never know what you have until he opens it up on gameday. Do any of you think when a head coach like Childress gets on his knees to beg Favre to come play for him, violates two distinct deadlines ("it's now or we move on"), then starts training camp ready to move on yet backtracks two weeks later and calls for help again. Then when the guy gets in town the same head coach drives down to the airport to pick him up. Anyone think that when Favre throws multiple INTs in a game that Childress is going to get in his face? How about the second time it happens? He can't because Favre will just look at him from his (Favre's) office and say "you begged me to come here." It's clear the tail is wagging this dog. Their season starts off with several easy games they should win. I expect the entire league to be all over the Vikings and how they are going to the playoffs and the Superbowl. This part of the season is also when Favre will be the strongest. Then in week 4 their real season starts with Green Bay, then StL (easy), followed by Balt, Pitt, and again Green Bay. I expect the Green Bay games to be very physical. I'm curious to see how Favre does after this stretch.

When did Dungy become an agent? Harrison would be with a team if his contract demands weren't so high. Now it appears that demand might just be getting lower but it's too late IMO unless some injuries hit us. I know we don't have a great WR corps but I like the talent and I prefer to let them go through the growing pains.

How does a pocket passer injure his hamstring? That defies belief.

I think we're all going to have to realize this offense is a work in progress. We have a QB who made it to the Pro Bowl last year but he's still young and still learning his craft, and he's learning an entirely new offense along with new receivers. I fully expect to see these type of mistakes well into the first quarter of the season. Of course I expect to see less and less of them but still we'll be seeing some INT's.

I thought about all this for a day and finally came to the conclusion that I'm thankful we finally have a QB who will say what's on his mind. I'm sick and tired of athletes and coaches giving out run of the mill statements while on the other hand the media does all it can to split hairs and cause friction at the slightest sign of accoutability. These days you can create a template for a typical sports interview and article and just print it over and over again with different names. I'm not saying Cutler should always be blaming others for bad plays, absolutely not, but I don't see that here at all. Cutler's statement is exactly what it is, he made a poor jump ball throw and acknowledged that he should know it's not Hester's strength, and he should. In between the words is the hint that, regardless of a bad throw, Hester should have fought more for the ball and that's exactly what's been said on the board here. I totally agree with both aspects. As long as Cutler calls himself out for making mistakes the end result will be more accountability instead of a mish mash of "we'll do better" statements.

Rideau was in a lot with the first team. He's the one who dropped the TD pass from Cutler on the play that as blown dead for a penalty. DA was in for a lot of reps with the second team and seemed to get open a few times as I was keying on him but Hanie kept going to Davis, which bothered me because I want to see if these other guys can do anything. DA also had a tackle on a KR. Davis was in on a few special teams plays as well so the competition will continue. I don't draw much from the first game especially with the young players. They are typically very nervous and unsure what to expect. Once they get a play or two you start to see what they can do. You can focus on the negatives but as long as those fade with experience they'll be ok. There were some positives tonight. Iglesias showed me a bit more speed on his KR than I thought he had and he had a nice TD reception along the back of the endzone. Knox also had a very nice PR, and made a nice move to get a first down on a quick out route. Rideau still looks a bit challenged with press coverage. All I saw from DA was that he appeared to get open sometimes but never got the ball, he had some good coverage on kick offs.

DBs...not good at all. Gave up pretty everything all game long. Afalava can tackle. LBs...saw some good plays from Url and Briggs. Pisa didn't standout IMO. DTs...saw good consistent push up the middle until we got down to the third string but nobody really broke free inside. Harrison got a lot of snaps and early on was beast but tired late in the game. Gilbert showed some quickness to get upfield l but I don't recall him making a lot of plays. DEs...Mark Anderson did nothing. Brown and Ogun did little more. Nobody stood out among this group. QBs...Cutler was either really good on a pass or downright awful with not much in between. Hanie reminded me why I liked him last year. He really likes Rashied Davis but he needs to work more of the field. Basanez...he was let down by a couple bad WR plays but overall looked at best like a 3rd string QB, and I mean at best. Oline...starters seemed to have good pass protection. Run blocking wasn't very good. Pace left early but I saw Williams in with the second string so it's clear they are trying to get him more playing time before the season starts. RBs...I liked the burst and strength Kevin Jones ran with but it would be nice to see him have some holes to run through. Wolfe looked ok. WRs...nothing worth writing about at all.

Orton looked pretty good throwing dump off routes while San Fran had it's DBs way off the LOS. Then the pick in the endzone showed what happens when the field gets compressed. Orton's last two picks were just absolute horrible throws. The third one being just what we were used to, a longer pass (20yd) where he tried to drop it in over a DB to a wide open receiver and the ball came up short. Orton was never very good at putting arc on a pass to drop it in over the top of a DB. To say Simms will take over for him is just not realistic. Simms looked absolutely horrible, constantly locked in on receivers and he wasn't particularly accurate either, it just looked better against 3rd stringers. McDaniels will stick with Orton because he is the better option but after game one it's clear it's going to take some time for him to get a good feel for a new offense and new teammates. Brandon Marshall must be happy.

With all the QB controversy they had last year (benching McNabb at one point) I'm surprised the Eagles are doing this. At the end of the year they came out and said McNabb is there guy going forward. Now maybe that's not true? Kolb really struggled when he got on the field so perhaps Philly is starting to look in a different direction for down the road.

Exactly where will AP contribute more? RB? Not likely as he is at best our 3rd RB and currently is listed as 4th on the depth chart. He won't see the field unless Forte and Jones go down. Losing players is never a good thing but if there's one thing that teams have shown over the years you can find a RB off the street (or more likely off your practice squad) to fill in. AP is an average RB, and not very good as a blocker, at least not last year. Special teams kick coverage? Wolfe was far better on special teams last year, I'll go so far as to say he was stud often getting downfield early and making tackles before the KR/PR could get momentum. Even KJ outshined AP in those last few games getting further downfield and making tackles on KR. Special teams blocking on returns? This one I'll give to AP because I simply don't know one way or the other. So we'd be keeping AP on the roster solely to be a special teams ace, even though others outperform him in some areas. There is going to be a lot of competition for this role. Consider Freeman who did well on special teams in college. Jamaar Williams who has often been a special teams standout and appears to be our 4th LB on the depth chart, especially now that they've listed him on the SLB depth chart. My belief is they are doing that solely because they know he can contribute well on special teams and they want him active for game day. It's good for him to know the SLB role even if he'd only do that to finish out a game. You prefer to keep AP solely to get a good blocker on KR/PR and in exchange only keep 2 TEs, the most injured position in the league? Or we drop one of our talented young WR, a position we have so many question marks and lots of inexperience? You realize we like to run 4 WR sets from time to time? I'll take the extra WR to see which of the 4 young guns develops best for the future. I've already been posting this offseason that it's time to move on from AP, and nothing I've heard from camp has made me change my mind.

I suspect a lot of QBs have or give input on which WR they like, just not a lot of Bears QBs. In our storied history it has typically been the other way around where the WR were the ones giving input on the QBs. My opinion is that I have no problem with Cutler having input. I also agree that he does not have final say on the roster, nor do I think he's trying to imply that he wants that. The point about the need to develop rookies who have more talent but less experience and may not perform as well early on is a valid one IMO. I think in this case (Davis vs. Aromashodu) Cutler himself is also looking down the road.

Just a thought here but with all the upbeat chat about Rideau and Aromashodu playing so well it's obvious Rashied Davis has not stood out in camp. Reality is that QBs decide where they are throwing the ball. Of course if the OC doesn't like the reads the QB is taking some risks but right now Cutler isn't worried about his job security. I'm just wondering if Cutler sees the athletic ability and potential of a guy like DA and is he just giving him as many chances as possible to make him successful at the expense of Rashied Davis? Consider that we have so many inexperienced WR and Davis knows our system very well. You'd think this situation would lead to Davis standing out early in camp while others struggled to get their routes and timing down. That hasn't been the case, and I've not heard much about dropped passes from Davis although I'm certain he's dropped some based on his history. Add in that we've put Davis back at the slot position where he supposedly plays well. Rideau has been around a couple years so he knows the system and has shined at times but DA just showed up after kicking around the league for a couple years. I don't want to take credit away from either of these young WR because many people have seen them making plays in camp, I'm just wondering if Cutler hasn't quietly opened the door a bit more for these guys to standout. Today at the post-practice press conference he stated that he'd like to have input into which WR make the team but that might not be the case. Regardless he said he'd speak his mind and that he and Turner are pretty much on the same page. Last year we heard all about how Davis was primed for a breakout season. It never materialized. Of course he was going against what proved to be a weak secondary and likely that helped him. OTOH did Orton have a comfort zone and trust with Davis that Cutler simply doesn't have? This thread is not about which WR make the roster rather it's about how Cutler is using his leadership and influence to shape the roster. I don't mean to imply he's doing it in a selfish way, I feel he has the team's best interest in mind. Whether he is right or wrong is debatable. If in fact there has been some early favoritism toward a new guy versus the veteran Davis how is this perceived in the locker room? I know when they were on the radio Olsen agreed with Cutler that DA was really standing out but Olsen and Cutler are pretty good friends so it's not a big surprise they'd agree like that. IMO it seems we're beginning to see the vocal Jay Cutler who often spoke his mind on the sidelines as well as in public. How will the team and coaching staff respond?

I would certainly like to have a FS with good speed in this defense. Yes, it's often a zone scheme but the weaknesses of that zone are in places where a guy with speed can still make the play. Danieal Manning would be a great fit for us except for his poor angles and weakness in reading the play. Some better more physical tackling would be nice to see too. I think Afalava is set to standout this preseason simply because he has good (not great) speed and hits like a ton of bricks. We all like those hits. Not saying he's a starter for us just that he'll open some eyes in these games.

How about this one: Fontel Mines out for the season with torn ACL http://blogs.suntimes.com/bears/2009/08/ti...es_out_for.html

Via Twitter and Vaugh McClure: http://twitter.com/vxmcclure23 Why would the redskins let aromashodu go? about 1 hour ago from web The other devin looking better by the day. about 1 hour ago from web

Perhaps there's some truth that but I'd have to see data on other teams turnover at these positions. The NFL is tough and these are the smaller players in a physical game. WR tend to be bigger (6' and over) but CBs tend to be smaller (5'9"- 6') because they need to change direction quickly. Tillman and Vasher might be nearing their expiration date but I think they have a couple more good years left. At least I hope they do. You are right, JA is always throwing more late round picks into the mix, he definitely prefers the numbers game with DBs. This year we got Afalava late.

I remember that joke, I laughed when I read it. I think Rashied has got better after his first year but not enough. He's not very big so speed is his main asset but he doesn't have any shiftiness to go with it. When you have a little WR you expect him to make some plays on his own and that's rarely the case with Davis. In either case I totally agree we know exactly what we have with him and there just is no upside. If these young guys perform close to what he does then I think we need to go in that direction regardless of the loss of experience. Special teams will be a factor but in the end you have WRs on the team to catch passes on offense, not to tackle on kickoffs. Translation: Teach someone else how to play on special teams. It's going to be interesting to see how the young guns play in the preseason games and when exactly they get in the game.

That'll work for me too! Thanks

You were already seeing it back then and Rashied Davis didn't make your list!

I have no problem if McBride doesn't make the cut. I think we know what he is and if someone beats him out then we're a better team. Steltz hasn't shown enough for me to think differently of him either but I think he's in a safer position than McBride is.

I don't know where you get the info on who is playing at what spot but there has to be someone else lining up in the slot in practice besides Davis. Before I get going on Davis I'll add that I like the fact the team is limiting what the rookies have to learn, at least so far. Why can't Hester move inside to the slot on some plays? They say Hester knows 110 routes now and I've already seen him there in practice so why not in games? Olsen lines up there on some plays too, and he also lines up wide (thus putting Hester in the slot). We plan to use a lot of two TE sets this year like we did last year. Bennett knows how to line up in the slot too. I don't even see why Iglesias couldn't be our slot WR, he's supposed to be quick in/out of his cuts and his size can handle the linebacker/safety hits better but even if he comes in the game you can move Bennett inside. I question just how badly we need Davis "the slot receiver"? Saying Davis is good in the slot is a relative term. He's better in the slot than he is out wide but in either case he's always had a case of the drops, there's just fewer of them inside. It might come down to keeping Rashied or Knox. We all thought experience would be the factor keeping Rashied there (myself included) but I don't see us able to protect Knox on the practice squad. He has too much potential IMO to lose him so therefore it becomes a decision of do we really need Davis for just one more year at the risk of losing a promising young talent? I need to see how well Bennett is doing, along with Rideau and Aromashodu but if they are playing well in the end I don't see Davis making a difference in our W-L record and so I cut him. That statement doesn't mean Knox will make a difference this year either, but next year I think he will.