madlithuanian Posted June 16, 2008 Report Share Posted June 16, 2008 http://www.profootballtalk.com/category/rumor-mill/ BROWN DISPUTES REPORT THAT BENSON WAS TARGETED Posted by Mike Florio on June 15, 2008, 11:54 p.m. Last week, Jay Glazer of FOX suggested that as many as ten Bears players tried to hurt former Chicago running back Cedric Benson during practice. Former Bears offensive lineman Ruben Brown took issue with that notion on Sunday. “That sounds like a lot of mumbo-jumbo,” Brown told WMVP-AM radio, via the Chicago Tribune. “Nobody does that anymore. We all respect each other’s right to earn money. I mean, we’re all trying to make it, and that makes no sense. “You’re saying Mike Brown, Brian Urlacher, Lance Briggs, outstanding stand-up people in the community and on the team, leaders of our team, wanted to go out and hurt another teammate? “Come on, that’s far-fetched. I was on the team. I saw when Cedric got hurt. Cedric got hurt on his own accord. Why would Brian Urlacher care to intentionally hurt our starting running back that’s going to keep us from making the playoffs?” (UPDATE: Actually, the back of that sentence is correct . . . Benson was the team’s starting running back in 207, and he kept them from making the playoffs.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mongo3451 Posted June 17, 2008 Report Share Posted June 17, 2008 Am I sensing a tad bit of veteren moxie? Reuben Brown is one of my favorites. I know a lot on this board think he's washed up and he may be. He was still effective until the shoulder injury. None of us even knew he was hurt until they shelved him. We all just said he's old and done. It ain't easy with two arms, let alone one. If his arm is good to go, I hope he's get signed and in camp for one more year. He'd still be better than any starting guard we currently have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrunkBomber Posted June 17, 2008 Report Share Posted June 17, 2008 Am I sensing a tad bit of veteren moxie? Reuben Brown is one of my favorites. I know a lot on this board think he's washed up and he may be. He was still effective until the shoulder injury. None of us even knew he was hurt until they shelved him. We all just said he's old and done. It ain't easy with two arms, let alone one. If his arm is good to go, I hope he's get signed and in camp for one more year. He'd still be better than any starting guard we currently have. I dont think anybody would oppose adding depth on the o line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nfoligno Posted June 17, 2008 Report Share Posted June 17, 2008 Depth hell. If he is healthy, he would be our starting LG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZ54 Posted June 17, 2008 Report Share Posted June 17, 2008 I always loved Ruben, thought he played well for us. He was the only Oline player who was any good at pulling, and that's amazing considering his age. I have no problem bringing him back if he's healthy and I agree that he'd still be our starting LG. That's actually something I'd love to see because his experience and leadership could really help Williams at LT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nfoligno Posted June 17, 2008 Report Share Posted June 17, 2008 That is one of my biggest issues w/ our situation at LG heading into the 2008 season. We have a rookie LT who we hope is a franchise LT. While Williams may well develop on his own, we are doing him no favors lining him up next to Metcalf (who sucks), St. Clair (who may not be awful, but is not a seasoned OG) or one of the younger OL (who are little more experienced than Williams). As great as it is to draft talent, I think you also need to support that talent. If you draft a RB w/o an OL, how well do you help his development. QB w/o WRs. DE w/o a DT. Adding Brown, if healthy, I think would not only be good in general for our OL, but good specifically to Williams development. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Controlled Chaos Posted June 17, 2008 Report Share Posted June 17, 2008 That is one of my biggest issues w/ our situation at LG heading into the 2008 season. We have a rookie LT who we hope is a franchise LT. While Williams may well develop on his own, we are doing him no favors lining him up next to Metcalf (who sucks), St. Clair (who may not be awful, but is not a seasoned OG) or one of the younger OL (who are little more experienced than Williams). As great as it is to draft talent, I think you also need to support that talent. If you draft a RB w/o an OL, how well do you help his development. QB w/o WRs. DE w/o a DT. Adding Brown, if healthy, I think would not only be good in general for our OL, but good specifically to Williams development. This makes too much sense....it won't happen. It's the same reason so many of us we're clamoring for Faneca. His presence is two fold. He performs his job at a high level and also is mentoring a rookie that you hope will be a cornerstone for years to come. Brown would bring some of that same Vet presence, while not performing up to the same level as Faneca...if he is healthy, he can do the job adequately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrunkBomber Posted June 17, 2008 Report Share Posted June 17, 2008 This makes too much sense....it won't happen. It's the same reason so many of us we're clamoring for Faneca. His presence is two fold. He performs his job at a high level and also is mentoring a rookie that you hope will be a cornerstone for years to come. Brown would bring some of that same Vet presence, while not performing up to the same level as Faneca...if he is healthy, he can do the job adequately. Thats exactly why we wanted Faneca. he would have immediately made our offense line good. Having him, drafting Williams at LT right next to him and moving Tait to the RT would be a huge upgrade. Kruetz more than likely would return to his probowl self and Garza or even St. Clair would be the only question mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZ54 Posted June 17, 2008 Report Share Posted June 17, 2008 I agree on that, Faneca would have been a great fit for our team. I think in the end it came down to going after him or extending Harris' contract, and even at that $8mil/yr was an incredible amount of money for a LG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nfoligno Posted June 17, 2008 Report Share Posted June 17, 2008 No question that is a lot of money, but look at the secondary positive affects he would have. (1) He would have gone a long way toward stabalizing our OL simply inserting him at LG. (2) Pairing him w/ our 1st round pick LT would (a) further improve our OL and ( help develop our rookie (3) Adding him, plus adding Williams at LT and moving Tait, would boost the OL dramatically. Further, significant improvement like this in the OL could boost the development and play of other positions. How much better might Forte look? Rex or Orton could even look good w/ the time in the pocket they would have (not to mention a run game to protect them) and this would lead to improved development and play by our young WRs We do not have an expensive QB, RB or WR on the team. Why not spend the money on an OG? Water under the bridge, but I simply can not help but wonder how much better our OL, and offense, might be this year if we had Faneca lining up between Williams and Kreutz, rather than possibly Metcalf. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nfoligno Posted June 17, 2008 Report Share Posted June 17, 2008 Also why the Jets signed him. NY still believe Brickshaw Ferguson can become a very good or even great LT. Similar thoughts w/ Mangold at center. By putting Faneca between the two, the Jets believe Faneca's veteran leadership can elevate the play of their LT and C to the point of having an elite tier left side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mongo3451 Posted June 18, 2008 Report Share Posted June 18, 2008 I'm still on board with thinking Faneca would have helped more than just a positional upgrade. You can probably say he'd be an upgrade at LG + make LT better + make C better. He'd cost a ton, but the value was there IMO. Now, I simply want Rueben to be healthy and hungry for redemption and for JA to get off his stubborn ass and re-sign him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DABEARSDABOMB Posted June 18, 2008 Report Share Posted June 18, 2008 I would welcome the savvy vet Brown back with open arms. He is nothing but class and if healthy is still a productive lineman who will also be able to help ease the transition for Williams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madlithuanian Posted June 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 Agreed 100% I'm still on board with thinking Faneca would have helped more than just a positional upgrade. You can probably say he'd be an upgrade at LG + make LT better + make C better. He'd cost a ton, but the value was there IMO. Now, I simply want Rueben to be healthy and hungry for redemption and for JA to get off his stubborn ass and re-sign him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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