AZ54

Yes, I haven't heard of Ravi signing yet and that can't hurt us at all, especially since conditioning was never considered one of his traits. As far as our speed being on the inside, of course they'd be lined up that way but there's nothing stopping them from running a quick out pattern while the TE is running upfield to clear out the DB, S, LB (whoever is out there). Greg Olsen has pretty good speed too, not elite but enough to get upfield. I'm looking forward to seeing how we match up with them from a formation point of view. I know their CBs are tough at the LOS but I think our TEs and RBs will give us an advantage.

The Packers are switching over to the 3-4 defense and after watching ESPNs update on Packer's camp and listening to their chat about how the DEs and LBs have to change roles somewhat I got to thinking how our offense will fare against them. I view the 3-4 as more of a stout run defense that gets it's pass rush in part because of the opportunities to bring a 4th or 5th pass rusher from multiple locations. Pass coverage with 4 LB has some limitations so the pass rush is key. They've got personnel issues with guys like Kampman, the Packer's best pass rusher, who now lines up as a LB. Which means he'll have to cover someone from time to time. On our side we're going to use Olsen in a lot of different positions (TE, WR, H-back) meaning they won't be able to know pass/run as well depending on personnel. If we go to the recently reported double-split-wide TE formation with WR in the slot positions how will they handle that? You can't really go to a nickel D because we could line up two TEs on the outside of the OTs and run. Are they going to leave their LBs to cover Hester and Bennett? I just see some nice advantages we have with spreading out the offense. On top of that Forte is a pretty good WR making him a threat out of the backfield. If this is effective we're going to find out quickly and in a big way because after Green Bay we play Pittsburgh.

LOL on the stats showing our Oline couldn't block well last year. No shock Forte did better when we ran a spread offense but I'll add one more thing, those were also more likely to be 3rd and long downs so the D was likely a backed off the LOS a bit.

I think you are right. We've been terrible in bump and run and if there's one thing our CBs need to work that is it. I don't mind at all the early emphasis on getting this technique down. Certainly if our pass rush isn't what we think it can be this will put our DBs in a tougher spot so I'd expect we'd back off a bit. However, if our Dline is doing their job and passes are coming out quicker then we need to be in tight coverage.

I think Bullocks is done. I'm pretty sure he got some looks at FS in the OTAs but as near as I can tell he's done nothing to impress the coaching staff. Given all the issues among our DBs if Bullocks were doing anything positive I'm pretty sure we'd have heard about it. Moving DM back to FS, Graham back to CB, combined with Bullocks not even getting shot at being the backup FS just put the icing on the cake. It appears right now he's 3rd string at SS and I think Afalava is taking over that role as I type.

Apparently our new secondary coach is a bit more of the in-your-face type. In the past Lovie favored the "teaching type" of coaches and felt they worked best with the players. Now he seems to have moved toward the task-master side of the equation, not all the way to other side but more in the middle between the two styles considering Marinelli and Hoke. You only need to watch the Sunday camp video on the Bears site to see this is clearly having an effect on Mark Anderson whose effort in the pas rush one-on-one has more urgency than I've ever seen in him, and he made an inside counter move too! It's only practice so far and of course having Melton and Idonije behind him and the desire for a new contract and/or job are motivating factors too. The camera angles for most of the camp video make it hard to see what the DBs are doing so I can't make out if anyone is reacting better to the WR cuts and/or inside slants. Any feedback on this topic from the lucky few who get to camp would be appreciated.

Let's just check in with Josh McDaniels on whether or not Orton is struggling with the long passes: http://www.milehighreport.com/2009/8/1/972...s-training-camp On if he thought QB Kyle Orton struggled with long pass attempts "No. When you are throwing long balls, you try to make them work and make them go. We had a couple chances there, but some days you are going to come up with them and some days you are not. I certainly would not categorize anybody as struggling with the long-ball." Then there are the fan reactions from their second day of practice: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/228927-...ackson-emerging There were mixed reactions about Saturday's session. One fan was complaining about Kyle Orton completing a series of five-to-ten yard passes instead of throwing the ball 30 yards downfield, and some fans were harping on the defense after a couple of good runs by Ryan Torain, Correll Buckhalter, and Peyton Hillis.

It's either good news or bad news depending on your perspective. Perhaps Marinelli is having an effect on the DEs and the pass rush is better with new moves, or perhaps our Williams is bad. Williams is adjusting to a new side of the ball so I expect he'll have a slow start.

They say he's day to day but he walked off the field without much of a limp so it might not be too bad. In any case missing days won't help him especially since they are splitting first team reps between him and Rosenfels. Jackson already had the upper hand in the competition in light of his experience in the system. Now with Sage getting all the first team reps for a few days it could even things up. Being Bears fans we all know what it's like to have a QB controversy in camp. Even Hester said yesterday that it definitely affected the WR corps as far as getting the timing down with Orton.

At the bottom of an article about Zach Bowman was this little tidbit about how Jon Hoke has changed our CBs coverage technique: ******************************************************************************** ******************** http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/footb...0,2983877.story Then came organized team activities, and the new emphasis on coverage technique that played into Bowman's skills beautifully. "We've done more backpedaling this year than I ever have in my life and that has helped me a lot," Bowman said. "They are teaching us to stay square for a longer period of time. Last year they were telling us to open up any time we felt threatened. This year they are telling us to stay square and just backpedal faster." ******************************************************************************** ********************* It's far too early to know how much this will help but it interesting to note that in years past players were told to open up anytime they felt threatened. This explains, at least in part, why so many of us were always screaming at our TVs when our CBs left WR open for so many short routes. When a coach gives guidance like this, IMO it isn't challenging a player to uphold a high standard for performance. There's just no baseline in the expectation for a player to achieve "just open up whenever YOU feel threatened." How about teaching a guy when to open up based on what the WR is doing? Clearly Bowman is benefitting from the new changes in tactics, hopefully it carries over to more players in our secondary. Maybe now we'll be able to defend the inside slant route.

Watching the Dline drills in this video it's clearly different and more intense. He really makes these guys run and change direction in these drills, even Anthony Adams is moving well. Best line "a little more violence". Yeah we need that in our pass rush. Best move: Mark Anderson with a very quick spin move. http://www.chicagobears.com/multimedia/mul...clip=Y&rn=6

Thayer listed the things he'll be watching for during training camp. One thing caught my eye, a very welcome sight indeed is that our Dline is learning to use counter moves on their pass rush. We've all been asking for this for years and perhaps it has finally arrived. If true, just the fact that we mix up the pass rush angles and moves will make our Dline more effective. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://blogs.suntimes.com/bears/2009/07/1_...tom_thayer.html There will be a good deal of focus on the secondary and rightfully so. Cornerback Charles Tillman will be an onlooker in camp while he recovers from back surgery. Danieal Manning was just switched back to free safety. These are legitimate storylines, but the key to the defense (and the secondary) improving is the pass rush. I asked Thayer if, in the absence of a real live pass rush, can he get a feel for how the defensive linemen are doing in camp? "Yeah. You can,'' he said. "There is a whole different tempo to their hand fighting. Not only the initial burst off the line of scrimmage and the position and how you're going to fight your hands through, but there is an equal counter move that comes right back and I watch these guys. They are just repititiously going through the exact same thing. The one thing about offensive and defensive line play, if you're not positively reinforced on your fundamentals on an every practice basis, you're going to really slip at these. What [Rod] Marinelli is doing is giving these guys the ability to move to counter move. That's where these guys' athleticism will come into play, I think. You're not just going to come to a stalemate, there is going to be a counter move from the defensive linemen to help them advance upfield.'' --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yesterday I listened to Lovie's press conference: http://www.chicagobears.com/multimedia/mul...lip=Y&rn=17 and when he was talking about the WRs (5min mark) he suddenly stopped and said "he's excited to see what Greg Olsen can do in his new role, and his role is changing." Lovie usually doesn't say anything beyond his usual cliches so for him to go out of his way to mention Olsen like this means there is something to it. What is his new role? Anyone heard about this? Anyone seeing anything at camp? From the Trib video all I've seen so far was that he lined up wide, outside the WR, on one play. Not sure if that means much as he lined up some at WR last year. He played a fair amount of H-back last year too. If he does take on more of a WR role this year this clearly opens the door to keep 4 TEs. Does it mean we might keep 5 WR?

CUT

Just curious how do you know it wasn't monitored or noticed? Are we expecting the coaches to go public with every discipline problem? It seems clear he had a target weight and he admitted as much therefore someone was talking to him. There weren't any positive comments about Harrison, or at least very few and IIRC there were some questions about his work ethic being less than needed.

His agent wouldn't be doing his job if he had not contacted the Bears. I think we'll see what we've got before making an attempt for someone like Jones.

Couple impressions from the Sun Times arrival photos. Is it good or bad when the ice man arrives first? Jarron Gilbert is a little bit too light to play DT in this league. I know he's a rookie and he is what he is this year but he'll need to add some weight in the next offseason to reach his potential. I'm not saying he can't contribute this year just that to handle a lot of reps he needs more bulk. Payne looks a bit more stout than last year. Nobody will believe Brad Maynard when he tells them he plays in the NFL. Marcus Harrison put on the PUP due to weight issues, and we're talking about 14lbs? Not making sense to me seeing as the best way to work off the excess weight is to workout. He had his knee scoped during the offseason and said he had a lot of personal issues to deal with this offseason. My guess is that he's not just overweight he's out of shape and the Bears want him working out before getting into contact drills. Plus it's good to send a message like this. He's got some competition now and needs to understand he has to earn a job.

Hoke better get in D.J. Moore's face and tell him this is his opportunity. He didn't fare well in the OTAs but that isn't the end of the world, lots of rookies don't. The impression I got is he seemed to be arrogant that he would just be able to play the role based on his athletic ability. Lots of college players make that mistake. Last year Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (of the Cardinals) said that's how he approached the game and he didn't really start studying film until about week 10. His play improved quite a bit at the end of the season. Has Moore learned his lesson and is he ready to study up and learn how to play CB in the NFL?

I think this is not good. However, it clarifies a couple things. One, Steltz is not our FS so that "wish" is crossed off the list. At least we're openly admitting this now and not suffering needlessly halfway through the season when a change would be worse. Two, Graham is more valuable as a CB, especially now with Tillman on the shelf. Again, we're admitting this now instead of forcing him to bounce back and forth during training camp. I am not that high on Tillman being 100% for the season. He's had so much surgery during the offseason how could he possibly be lifiting and working out like he needs to be? He may still end up as our starter but a back injury is never ideal and especially not good just before camp starts. I expect we'll be watching the waiver wire for a FS or making a trade for one!

BFD. That's about all I can say. The world is so political correct these days people get all bent out of shape over every little thing. I bet back in 85 at least once a week someone in the Bears locker room called someone else a pussy. If the O and D get a little animosity going in camp good for us because that's competition and quite honestly both sides of the ball have lots of room for improvement. Strap 'em up and go hit each other it will only make us better.

One of the best, I was always amazed at how the Eagles always had a defense you worried about, even if they weren't statistically at the top. You always knew they weren't going to quit bringing it.

Good news for the Vikings? I don't think so. After spending an entire offseason courting Favre the coaching staff and key players on that roster have all thrown their leftover QBs under the bus. Had the coaching staff handled things differently by taking a low key approach then it might be different. They tried to stay low key early on but the media forced them to show their hand. Throughout the summer they continually contacted Favre, even as late as two weeks ago when the OC paid him a visit. Then after that they had Adrian Peterson, Jared Allen, and a couple other big name players call Favre and tell him how much they wanted him on the Vikings. So now Tarvaris Jackson knows he's done in Minn. Sage Rosenfels already knows he's a backup but he'll toe the company line hoping to eek out a starting role for a bit of time but he has a weak arm. In the huddle after a play in which Berrian drops a pass that was a little bit off-target what is being said between Jackson and Berrian? More importantly what are each of those guys thinking? What are the Olinemen thinking? Of course winning cures a lot of ills and Minn still has a good team. They have a soft schedule to start off, so they could easily win the first 2 or even 3 games. They should be 4-1 when Baltimore rolls into town. It's possible everyone is talking about how they never needed Favre at that point. But when crunch time shows up from week 6 on down and they start losing more than winning (Bal/Pitt/@GB) things will likely turn quickly into an endless series of questions about the QB play. It will be hard to exorcise the ghost of Favre. Then you have some conspiracy theorists (as per above) who think Favre just wants to miss the beginning of training camp then he'll show up. That stuff is out there and the media will keep asking about it during the Vikings training camp.

Not sure how many times last season I saw Dusty just stand there instead of making some attempt at a pass rush. Early in the year he was ok getting some penetration but after a few games he just basically stood there.

This doesn't bode well for our secondary. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/footb...0,5877777.story

It's bookmarked. I'll come back to it during the season to see how my perceptions matchup with their ratings.