Friday News

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sport...on-jeffery-bears-practice-20141120-story.html

Receivers Brandon Marshall, Alshon Jeffery return to Bears practice

By Rich Campbell

Receivers Brandon Marshall (right ankle) and Alshon Jeffery (hamstring) returned to practice Thursday with limited participation. They are expected to play Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Soldier Field.

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Returner/receiver Chris Williams (hamstring) sat out a second straight day. Newly-signed Marc Mariani practiced as the return man, coach Marc Trestman said. Williams' status should be clearer on Friday.

Right tackle Jordan Mills (rib muscle) was limited. Michael Ola worked with the first string during the portion of practice that was open to reporters.

Slot cornerback Demontre Hurst apparently suffered a knee injury in practice this week. He was limited Thursday after not being on Wednesday's injury report.

"We’re optimistic it was nothing serious," Trestman said. "He got twisted up a little bit. We’ll see where he is tomorrow.”

Defensive end Jared Allen missed practice for a reason that was not injury-related. Linebacker Darryl Sharpton (right hamstring) and defensive end Trevor Scott (knee) also sat out.

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Defensive tackle Ego Ferguson (illness) and receiver Josh Morgan (shoulder) fully participated.

http://chicagosuntimes.com/sports/jay-cutler-keep-letting-me-move-around-in-the-pocket/

Bears’ Jay Cutler: Keep letting me move around in the pocket

Patrick Finley
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Jay Cutler was clear Thursday: he doesn’t want to be a sitting duck.

The Bears were successful rolling the pocket Sunday, giving Vikings pass rushers a different target by allowing the quarterback to move his feet.

“It was great,” Cutler said at Halas Hall. “We got to keep doing it. We got to keep doing it in different ways, showing different looks, get off the spot as much as we possibly can because it helps with everything.

“It helps the pass rush, get some easy balls out to the flat, out on the outside, lets the guys run. It’s got to be something in our offense that we do more of.”

Coach Marc Trestman said all quarterbacks like to “change the passing spot,” and that the Bears “did create some advantage” by moving Cutler to the outside.

When the Bears scouted their own team during the bye, they decided to roll Cutler more.

“We got a little bit of it done last week,” Trestman said. “And we’ll continue to move forward that way.”


Wideouts back

The Bears’ two star wide receivers retuned to the field Thursday: Brandon Marshall (ankle) and Alshon Jeffery (hamstring) were limited one day after missing practice.

Offensive tackles Jordan Mills (ribs) and Eben Britton (appendicitis) were limited. Trestman called Mills, who was injured against the Packers, “day-to-day.”

This and that

• Cornerback Demontre Hurst was added to the injury report — he did not practice — after suffering a knee injury. He practiced in full Wednesday.
“We’re optimistic it was nothing serious,” Trestman said. “He got twisted up a little bit. We’ll see where he is (Friday).”

• Trestman said he’ll have a better idea Friday whether new signee — and former Pro Bowler — Marc Mariani will return kicks and punts Sunday. For the second-straight day, Chris Williams did not practice because of a hamstring injury.

• Defensive end Jared Allen missed practice with a veteran’s day off. End Trevor Scott (knee) and linebacker Darryl Sharpton (hamstring) did not practice, either.

• Linebacker Lavonte David, the Buccaneers’ leading tackler, sat out Thursday with a hamstring injury.

Email: pfinley@suntimes.com
Twitter: @patrickfinley

There's 2 things about this offense that I dont understand.

1) Why don they do roll outs or move the pocket more often, it seems after every game we say this. and 2) why the hell do we run maybe one slant route every other game. After the slant picked by the packers it's almost like they are afraid of that play now

http://chicagosuntimes.com/sports/josh-mccown-never-too-far-away-from-bears-quarterback-jay-cutler/

Josh McCown never too far away from Bears quarterback Jay Cutler

Patrick Finley
email
Josh McCown is just a phone call away.

The 35-year-old’s relationship with Bears quarterback Jay Cutler didn’t end when McCown left for a two-year, $10 million contract with the Buccaneers in March. The two still talk and text — mostly about family, but “we do talk a little ball now and then,” McCown said — despite working in quarterback rooms half a country away.

“They still talk and they still watch each other’s tape and they still talk through things,” offensive coordinator Aaron Kromer said Thursday. “It’s funny. That’s just their relationship.”

Cutler scoffed at the notion of watching each other’s film — “There’s just not enough time,” he said — with a reunion scheduled for Sunday at Soldier Field.


“Josh is probably good for a lot of people,” Cutler said. “I think you could probably pair him with most of the people in this room and he’d find a way to help make you better. He’s not going to make you worse, I know that. He’s just one of those kind of people.

“So I know he’s doing good things for that quarterback room in Tampa just like he did for us.”
Universally beloved inside Halas Hall, McCown provided an easy-going, confident counterpoint to Cutler’s personality. He could be a leader without being the starter.

“He and Jay really worked well together, because they could work things out,” Kromer said. “He had the veteran experience with Jay, and was a very good backup, because he could talk through things. And then everyone could get on the same page.”

That hasn’t been the case this year, and that’s no shot at Cutler’s new backup, Jimmy Clausen, eight years McCown’s junior.

“Do they work together? Yes. Do they have the studies and do the things? Yes,” Kromer said. “But we’re talking about (eight) years difference in maturity level of a guy that’s seen a lot of football in Josh McCown.

“Jimmy hasn’t seen as much. Jay has a lot more experience. They try to help each other and make the best out of each other.”

Clausen’s impressions of McCown have been second-hand.

“I just know Jay had a good relationship with Josh,” Clausen said, “and he still talks to him now.”

When Clausen signed late in the offseason, his first priority was to learn the offense and earn a job, Cutler said. He’s since “graduated,” Cutler said, to helping with coverages and plays in meetings.

“He’s always trying to push the envelope,” Cutler said. “Change things and tweak things around, which I think’s been great for us.”

Some of what Cutler learned from McCown is being passed on to the new backup.

“Patience and just trying to do things the right way each and every day, not getting lost in the details — I think those are things that Josh did a great job as whenever he was here,” Cutler said.

“I try to emulate those things for Jimmy, and every day when we come in and have quarterback meetings and being on top of my stuff — knowing exactly what the game plan is — so whenever he’s in there, that’s how he’s got to do it as well.”

Email: pfinley@suntimes.com
Twitter: @patrickfinley

http://chicagosuntimes.com/sports/bears-joe-decamillis-promises-to-churn-it-up-on-special-teams/

Bears’ Joe DeCamillis promises to ‘churn it up’ on special teams


"Does the douche make the visor, or does the visor make the douche?"

Mark Potash
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Bears special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis isn’t making any excuses.

When asked if there was a “coaching point” to make to his players after the Vikings converted a fake punt into a 48-yard gain by safety Andrew Sendejo that set up a touchdown in the Bears’ 21-13 victory last week, he put the credit and the blame where it was due. The Bears just got snookered.

“The coaching point was Mike Zimmer having really good guts and a great feel for when to call it,” DeCamillis said. “You always try to keep tabs on who you’re playing. That had not been something in their DNA, but it is now with coach Zimmer.

“It was a great call. I could’ve helped with a better call from the standpoint of personnel call but other than that was a great call. I’ve got to give him credit. He’s definitely made the notebook, I can tell you that.”

The fake punt was the latest in a series of mishaps that have haunted DeCamillis this season. Robbie Gould missed a 47-yard field goal off an imperfect snap by Jeremy Cain. Rookie Christian Jones was called for an illegal block on a second-quarter punt.

“It’s really sad when you win a game and can’t enjoy it,” DeCamillis admitted. “My wife has been through this for 26 years with me and she knows I was miserable after the game.

“You take it upon yourself and there hasn’t been a lot of happy memories. We played probably our best game against Miami and we lost that game so there hasn’t been a lot of joy at my house after the games.

“[The fake punt] was a tough play. I’m glad the defense bailed us out and played as well as they did throughout the day. They bailed us out. So did the offense. So the next six games, hopefully it’s our turn to get one back for them.”


DeCamillis has been put in a tough spot, with the Bears dropping special teams veterans such as Blake Costanzo, Craig Steltz and Eric Weems to make room for younger, more athletic players to build roster depth. Weems had a Falcons-record six tackles on special teams against the Panthers on Sunday.

But after 27 years in the NFL, DeCamillis knows he has to play the hand he was dealt.

“It’s fair to evaluate me, because we’re paid to produce, just like the players,” DeCamillis said. “And it doesn’t make any difference who’s playing out there. You’ve got to play sound and play well and we’ve got to do that.”

Though it’s been a nightmarish season, DeCamillis sees the big-picture progress that Bears general manager Phil Emery is looking for with the infusion of inexperienced but talented players on special teams.

“It’s the NFL,” DeCamillis said. “What happens if a guy goes on [injured reserve?]. It’s the same situation — you lost him. You just have to adjust from there.

“It’s a fluid situation because we’ve had a lot of young guys there. At the bottom end of the roster you’ve got to kind of churn it up and that’s what’s happened. So hopefully we’re getting the right combination of guys and I think there’s some guys who’re going to stick around and the more experience they get, they’re going to get better.”

http://chicagosuntimes.com/sports/after-acing-bridgewater-test-bears-d-looks-to-take-next-step/

After acing Bridgewater test, Bears’ D looks to take next step

Mark Potash
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After getting torched by Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers for a combined 11 touchdowns and 684 passing yards in back-to-back games, the Bears defense picked on somebody its own size last week.

Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater played like a unsure rookie finding his way in the dark last week. Barely even looking for his wideouts in the first half, Bridgewater never threatened a Bears secondary that didn’t know which was up against the Packers and Patriots.

The Bears held Bridgewater to 158 yards passing and 5.6 yards per attempt. His longest pass plays of 24 and 17 yards didn’t come until after the Bears took a 21-10 lead in the fourth quarter. Greg Jennings, the former Packer who seemed to always be open against the Bears when Rodgers was throwing the ball to him, was targeted twice all day and had one reception for four yards.

The Bears’ defense allowed just 195 total yards when you lop off the 48 yards the Vikings’ Andrew Sendejo gained on a fake punt in the first quarter. That’s the fewest the Bears have allowed in the Mel Tucker era. It’s the fewest since they held the Jaguars to 189 yards in a 41-3 rout in 2012. The Bears’ improved from 26th in the NFL in total defense to 19th in one week.


Was Teddy Bridgewater the best thing to happen to the Bears defense?

“It had nothing to do with Bridgewater. It had to do with what we did,” Bears Pro Bowl cornerback Tim Jennings said. “We got back to playing fast. We were being physical. And our defensive line was getting after it. Regardless of the quarterback we’re facing, if we get that kind of effort we should have a good day.”

We’ll see about that, eventually. The Bears’ defense faces another manageable opponent in the Buccaneers this week. The Bucs are ranked 27th in total offense, 17th in yards per play and 25th in points scored. But they should present a higher degree-of-difficulty for Jennings & Co. with veteran Josh McCown throwing to 6-5, 230-pound Vincent Jackson and 6-5, 231-pound rookie Mike Evans.

McCown is coming off his best game since signing a two-year, $10 million contract with the Buccaneers in the offseason. In a 27-7 victory over the Redskins, McCown was 15-of-23 for 288 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions for a 137.5 passer rating. Evans, the seventh overall pick in the May draft from Texas A&M, had seven receptions for 209 yards and two touchdowns, including a 56-yarder. The 209 yards is the most by an NFL rookie since 1996 (the Rams’ Eddie Kennison, 5-236) and the ninth-most by an NFL rookie since 1960.

That in itself presents a little bit of a different “rush-and-cover” challenge for the Bears.

“If there’s a man open, he’s going to find [him],” Tucker said of McCown. “It’s going to be important to get pressure on him. That’s going to be a big part of the game, whether it’s with four or five or six — whatever it takes — and to have really, really good coverage behind it, whatever we decide to do. He’s a rhythm passer. We have to make sure we disrupt his timing and his rhythm and the receivers as well.”

It remains to be seen just how much of the Bears’ progress last week was real and how much was that Bridgewater was not Rodgers or Brady.

“I think [it was] a little of both,” linebacker Lance Briggs said. “Obviously we were facing a rookie quarterback. But this was a professional team and it was important for us to just really read our keys and be assignment-right.

“Once you start your first three-and-out, that’s where the steps toward getting everything corrected or the process to getting back on the right path begins.”

In other words, the Bears’ beleaguered defense had to get back on its feet first. Regardless of the opponent, Tucker saw signs of real growth.

“We had very few mistakes in that game,” Tucker said. “We tackled well. We were on the same page throughout the entire game. We executed the calls that we made, and we played fast, and we played all the way through for 60 minutes.

“There was some critical situations that we felt like we needed to improve. There was a sudden-change situation [after Harrison Smith’s 52-yard interception return] where we were able to hold the opponent to no points.

“There were a couple backed-up situations where we were able to keep them backed up. Things like that — just situational football where we improved. Regardless of the opponent that you’re playing, those are some of the things you need to do to play well and to win.”

On Tucker’s list of areas of improvement, “we were on the same page throughout the entire game” stands out as something that could be parlayed into greater success against better quarterbacks and better offenses. At the very least, for Tucker’s beleaguered defense, it’s a good place to start.

http://chicagosuntimes.com/sports/walter-payton-set-single-game-rushing-record-37-years-ago-today/

Walter Payton set single-game rushing record 37 years ago today

On Nov. 20, 1977 at Soldier Field, Walter Payton rushed for 275 yards, breaking O.J. Simpson’s single-game mark by two yards. The incomparable John Schulian, formerly of the Chicago Sun-Times, wrote about the record-breaking performance in 1999:

BY JOHN SCHULIAN
There will only be a number by his name. It will tell everybody who looks in the NFL record book that he ran for 275 yards in a single game, and nobody ever ran for more. Such a pity, for what Walter Payton accomplished was poetry, even if he never used a word.

Where Jim Brown’s every slam-bang carry was a study in onomatopoeia, where Gale Sayers floated across the turf with strides as graceful as Elizabethan couplets, Payton performed in free verse. One time the little big man of the Bears would barge into the largest defensive tackle he could find, the next time he would skitter around
end like a gnat with a turbocharger. And all the befuddled Minnesota Vikings could do was react in the manner of the first critics to see e.e. cummings’ unstructured poesy.

They let Payton sail right by them. It was the last thing Payton thought he would be able to do. He had missed practice Wednesday and he could barely get through half of Thursday’s session. The team doctor blamed it on the flu; Payton’s diagnosis was “hot and cold flashes.” Whatever, he felt like death warmed over as he waited to step out into Soldier Field under a weeping dishrag sky. “I didn’t know if I was going to make it through introductions,” he said.

He didn’t fuss about it, though. It wouldn’t have been his style.

Payton.2

“Walter Payton is really a weird individual,” said left guard Noah Jackson, who is in his third season of blocking for him. “Not weird in a derogatory way, but weird in a respectable way. He just won’t let you get to know anything about him. When he’s not on the football field, he’s an off-to-hisself type person.”

Actually, Payton has those tendencies on the field, too. “I don’t like people talking to me during a game,” he said. “Never.” The last time anybody broke that unwritten rule was a year ago. Payton went into the season finale against Denver leading O.J. Simpson by nine yards in their duel for the league’s rushing championship. “We concentrated on proving to Walter that we were trying for him so much that we forgot about the game,” right guard Revie Sorey said. It didn’t help. First Payton was distracted, then he was injured and then he was brokenhearted. He had failed to topple Simpson.

The Bears dared not tempt their fate like that with their last best hope for the playoffs at stake Sunday. As they poleaxed Minnesota 10-7, nobody said a word to Payton about his assault on the one-game rushing record established just last Thanksgiving, when Simpson, of all people, juiced Detroit for 273 yards. Indeed, nobody was saying a word about it to any of the Bears.

“Did you set up that last run so Walter could break the record?” someone asked head coach Jack Pardee afterward.

“Did he break a record?” asked Pardee, his eyes widening in surprise.

All he cared about after Payton high-stepped 58 yards through right tackle was getting him – or anyone else, for that matter – into the end zone from the Vikings’ 9. And if the Bears couldn’t do that, then Pardee wanted them to drive as deep as possible, field goal be damned. “We didn’t think the Vikings could go 95 yards into the wind for a touchdown,” he said.

The Bears began painting them into an inescapable corner when Robin Earl, the rookie mastadon, plowed straight ahead for three yards.

Payton jacked his total for the afternoon up to 271 yards by sweeping left end for three, and, after Bob Avellini missed a handoff to him, he made amends on the next play. He didn’t get the six points he was looking for around right end, but, with Matt Blair clinging to his knees, he made one of those long, strong lunges that have become his trademark. His reward this time was a four-yard gain. And the record.

“Somebody told me that was the 40th time I carried the ball,” said Payton, who needed one more carry to set an NFL record in that department, too. “It only felt like 20.”

Payton doesn’t come closer than that to bragging, although he was tempted Sunday after realizing that the 1,404 yards he has gained in the first 10 games put him within 599 of Simpson’s one-season record of 2,003.

“How would you defense Walter Payton?” someone asked him. “I’d probably kidnap him the night before the game,” he replied, giggling.

03843-58.2056.jpg

Nobody is supposed to think he has the slightest bit of ego; now he had to prove it again. He talked about the way Earl and Jackson and Sorey had mowed down Vikings for him.

For Payton, running is intuitive. What does not come naturally for him is this business of meeting the press. For one thing, he despises the microphones with which the radio people are forever threatening to unwittingly knock out his teeth. For another thing, he wonders what can possibly come out of attempts to read his mind.

“It’s an impossible task,” he said. “I don’t think anybody could analyze me,” he said.

Those who still care to knock their heads against the wall of the Paytonian stubbornness, however, were given some tips by the great man himself. “I used to do sports interviews down in Mississippi, at Channel 3,” he said. “If you give a man some room, you get good stuff.

“But if you crowd him, he forgets what he’s thinking about.”

He was hurrying to vacate the spotlight now. He put a bandage on a gouge on his left arm. He tied his tie poorly, then buttoned his blue cardigan sweater high to cover it. One more question, one more answer, and it was if he heard a snap count. He zipped past an equipment bag, sidestepped a pair of shoulder pads, turned the corner around a row of lockers, and he was out the door. Walter Payton, the only poet running in the NFL, never said a word.

http://chicagosuntimes.com/sports/pro-football-focus-breaks-down-bears-buccaneers/

Pro Football Focus breaks down Bears-Buccaneers

David Just
@davidjustCST | email
Patrick Finley
email
PFFlogoHOW IT WORKS:
Pro Football Focus, which nearly a third of the NFL subscribes to, has a complex grading process, looking at every player on every offensive, defensive and special-teams play. Plus or minus grades are given and are based around an average of 0, with each position graded slightly differently. If a player does something you normally would expect, then a score of 0 is given. Grades are given for plays that are reasonably considered to be better or worse than the average or expected play. For the final grade, player participation is factored in, using a normalization factor to set the average player in that facet of the game to 0.

With the help of Pro Football Focus’ analytics, here’s a look at Lovie Bowl I, Sunday’s Bears-Buccaneers contest at Soldier Field:

WIDEOUT BATTLE

With their size and ability, Buccaneers receivers Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson have been compared to the Bears’ Alshon Jeffery and Brandon Marshall. The Bears’ wideouts, though, get more of their yards after the catch. As Martellus Bennett says, it’s the Year of the YAC:


AX210_2BDE_9

LIGHTS, CAMERA, PLAY-ACTION

No quarterback ran more play-action passes Sunday than Jay Cutler. The plan worked, but how well? Here’s how Cutler looked on play-action plays against the Vikings, compared to his other plays. They’re remarkably similar:


BUCCANEERS QUICK HITS

>> Tampa’s Gerald McCoy might be the best defensive tackle in football. Only one tackle has more sacks than his seven, he leads the league with eight quarterback hits and is tied for third with 20 hurries. One more concerning stat: He’s had 10 penalties called on him, four more than any other defensive tackle in football.
>>Since returning from a thumb injury in Week 10, the Buccaneers’ Josh McCown is seventh among quarterbacks in PFF’s QB rating, ahead of Drew Brees, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, among others. McCown has done his damage deep, throwing three touchdowns to targets 20 yards or father away. His 63.6 completion percentage on those 11 tries ranks second, only to Aaron Rodgers, the last two weeks.

–Patrick Finley

http://chicagosuntimes.com/sports/sun-times-picks-buccaneers-at-bears/

STAFF PREDICTIONS: Experts don’t see a nice homecoming for Lovie

Adam L. Jahns
email
The Sun-Times experts make their picks for Lovie Smith’s return to Chicago, and it doesn’t look good for the former Bears coach.

RICK MORRISSEY

Bears 35-24

The Bears are giving up a league-high 29 points a game. The Buccaneers are allowing an average of 27.9 points, third highest. Tampa Bay’s Josh McCown, the former Bear, should have a field day, provided Marc Trestman coaches him. Jay Cutler should have a field day, provided Trestman doesn’t coach him. Wait, I’m confused. Season: 4-6

RICK TELANDER

Bears 30-24

Winning two in a row at home shouldn’t be impossible. It still feels as if the Bears offense hasn’t put together a complete show. How about taking advantage of a Lovie defense, for once? If this game isn’t enough to get Trestman’s quarterback whispering into full screech, nothing is. Season: 5-5

ADAM L. JAHNS

Bears 34-14

Here’s thinking the Bucs’ defense still is searching for itself and it gets lost in the buildup to the “Lovie Bowl.” With coach Marc Trestman at his back, quarterback Jay Cutler comes out on fire in this one to spite Lovie Smith. Lance Briggs, meanwhile, won’t let Smith down and will play like the Hall-of-Famer he can be, leading another spirited effort by the defense. Old friend Josh McCown will have some success, but Cutler will keep him and his big receivers off the field. Season: 3-7

MARK POTASH

Bears 24-20

Lovie Smith will have the Buccaneers fired up to beat the organization that fired him. And his defense won’t play into the Bears’ hands like the Vikings did. But he still has a 2-8 team that is 29th in total offense and 27th in total defense. It won’t be easy, but the resurgent Bears will find a way. Season: 6-4

PATRICK FINLEY

Bears 23-13

The symbolism of Sunday’s game is huge for Marc Trestman and Jay Cutler, who will forever be compared to Lovie Smith and Josh McCown otherwise. Luckily, the Bears draw one of the league’s worst offenses — only four teams average fewer yards — and a franchise that’s historically impotent in cold weather. Put that together, and it spells “winning streak.” Season: 4-6

HUB ARKUSH

Bears 37-27

Last week the Bears proved they are still capable of beating teams they should and the Bucs are another one that falls into that category. But as we saw with the Vikings its never easy for these Bears. Josh McCown has enough to worry about just trying to play quarterback no matter who the opponent is but a win here would clearly be special for Lovie Smith regardless of what he says. Smith will do everything he can to have the Bucs ready and this will be dicey of the Bears don’t play better than last week. I suspect the improvement will be just enough. Season: 5-5



LOL @ BEARS SCORING MORE THAN 30 POINTZ!!!!

And I wonder why you're even in the NFL. You suck at coaching.

"there hasn’t been a lot of joy at my house after the games." - from our ST coach, aka the douche w/ the visor.

I had a dream last night that Alshon was out this week. Thanks Ole for making my morning.

Tahnks ole

tihs is ont an offcial nwes trhead!!!

Question for anyone that knows, sacks hits and hurries, are the all exclusive? Or is a hit also tallied in hurries? Same with tfl, are sacks included in tfl?

Alshon seems to have a faulty hammy. He can't stop straining it lol

With Chris Williams missing practice, I should expect them to give Mariani a shot at returning. I highly recommend this as Williams is useless.

iueyedoc said:

Question for anyone that knows, sacks hits and hurries, are the all exclusive? Or is a hit also tallied in hurries? Same with tfl, are sacks included in tfl?

Click to expand...

I'm not sure, either. And where do impact tackles fit in with all that?

This team has had a lot of rib injuries since Briggs opened his restaurant.

I was hoping for an East Coast weather update. Ole69'r ?

Jester said:

I was hoping for an East Coast weather update. Ole69'r ?

Click to expand...

Bills are playing in Detroit Monday night. Drive your tractor on up there Cleetus