Hester reports to Bears camp:

Devin Hester's resolve to sit out the entire 2008 season, if necessary, to get a new contract ended after two days of training camp. The wide receiver arrived at training camp happy teammates reported at breakfast this morning, in time for a morning weightlifting session and today's 3 p.m. practice. Hester shows up after accruing roughly $30,000 in fines for missing two days of practice.

That is good news, though I am surprised he caved so quickly.

Not a huge surprise at this point, but Cedric Benson has been cut:

 

Bears release Cedric Benson

Not long after Cedric Benson showed contrition Monday for his latest arrest, the Bears showed him the door.

The team released the troubled former first-round draft pick Monday as a result of Benson's arrest early Saturday morning in Austin, Texas, on a charge of driving while intoxicated. It was Benson's second alcohol-related arrest in five weeks and enough to convince the Bears he just wasn't worth the headaches.

"Cedric displayed a pattern of behavior we will not tolerate," general manager Jerry Angelo said. "As I said this past weekend, you have to protect your job. Everyone in this organization is held accountable for their actions. When individual priorities overshadow team goals, we suffer the consequences as a team. Those who fail to understand the importance of 'team' will not play for the Chicago Bears."

Former Longhorn arrested

Former Longhorn Cedric Benson was arrested Saturday evening by officers with the Texas Park and Wildlife and Lower Colorado River Association. Benson is out on a $14,500 bail. Benson was arrested for boating while intoxicated and resisting arrest.

Fun times. Do you think he realizes that the Bears drafted a running back in the second round?

 

WCG:  This just further points to Cedric Benson's horrible and lackadaisical attitude.  It doesn't matter what the circumstances are, he believes he is untouchable and never has anything to worry about.  He has always has a sense of entitlement and while I don't know what the Bears will do, I have to imagine they have at least considered trading or cutting him.

 

 

Orton agrees to 1-year extension:

The Bears and quarterback Kyle Orton agreed to a one-year contract extension through 2009. Orton, who is 12-6 as a starter with the Bears, will compete with Rex Grossman for the starting job. Grossman agreed to a one-year contract rather than testing the free-agent market.

Orton finished the season as the Bears' starter, leading the team to victory in the final two games. He set a team rookie record with 10 wins in 2005.

Go neck beard.

This is a decent move, even though I will never understand why people think that Orton is a better option than Sexy Rexy.

But I guess that isn't my decision.

Now if only the Bears could find an offensive line.

Woohoo!

Brian Griese ticked off the wrong people at Halas Hall, but we may never know whom or how.

It hasn't happened yet, but sources indicate it would take a major upset for the Bears not to cut Griese before he is due a $300,000 roster bonus next week. This is the thanks Griese will get for biding his time during 2006, providing a serviceable effort in six starts in '07 and never going off publicly after losing his job to a phantom injury. Griese was never expected to be a guy to get the Bears through more than four or five games at a time. He played that role well. It would still be smart to keep him for 2008, thought that seems unlikely now with the Bears looking to draft a quarterback to hold a clipboard.

I won't miss him, that's for sure.

And of course, it is not official yet.  But it doesn't look like we will see Griese again.

The Titans have let go Norm Chow.

I know... the Bears keep saying that Turner will be back next year.  Because he did such a wonderful job.  Or something like that.  

But there are now two very good offensive coordinators available (Chow and Cameron).  Two coordinators who would be MUCH better than Turner.  

Bears... go get one of them.  

Via Rotoworld (and Rob G, at TCR):

Adam Schefter of the NFL Network reports that Brian Griese will start for the Bears in Week 4 at the Lions.

Lovie Smith couldn't sell out the rest of his team any longer.

I will say that I am somewhat surprised at this.  

With that said, lets go Griese.  Show us you deserve it.  

And good luck with that offensive line!

Some musings...

Berrian was awful last night.  He put up decent numbers, but he had at least three ridiculous drops - all three which would have been first downs, and one may have been a touchdown, but at minimum would have put the Bears inside the 5 yard-line. If Berrian catches the ball that his chest, that game may look very different.

The Bears did somewhat abandon the run in the second half, which surely didn't help Rex.  And the offensive line played worse in the second half, not giving Rex protection.

For the most part I am not worried about the Bear's defense, assuming that none of the injuries are serious.  Not sure that is a safe assumption, but oh well.  I AM worried about how many missed tackles the Bears had last night.  It started to be a pattern last season, and it didn't look good yesterday.

By the way... for being one of the best defensive players in football, Urlacher sure misses a lot of tackles.  

I did think that the play-calling was somewhat better last night.  Rex threw the ball down field a bit more than he did in the previous two games.

Rex.  He looked pretty solid in the first half - making some good throws and not making any bad decisions.  He did have the one pick, but it was just a poor throw/bad timing, which I can live with in comparison to bad mechanics or bad decisions.  Of course... he fell apart in the 2nd half.  I really don't know what to say about Rex.  I have been one of his biggest fans/supporters for the last year, but it is getting tough.  With that said, anyone else get really tired of Madden's Rex bashing and Romo-loving?  Rex would get sacked on a play that even Romo or Vince Young wouldn't have been able to avoid, and Madden blames it on Rex.  

Offense?  What offense?  I really do not understand how the Bear's offense is this bad.  There are some obvious things - an older offensive line is one of they key things.  But this offense is essentially the same as last year, with added weapons.  And it continues to struggle.  And it is not all Rex's fault.

Bradley?  Anyone know what happened to Mark Bradley's role in the Bear's offense?  

The deep ball?  I still have yet to see a Berrian/Bradley streak.  It is possible that the plays are being called, but they just are not open.  But that is one thing the Bear's are really missing.  

Tony Romo impressed me. Terrell Owens impressed me. The rest of the team didn't really impress me. But Romo's ability to move within the pocket is quite impressive, and he probably was the singular reason that the Cowboys were in a position to win that game. The Bears d-line had pressure on him all night, and he was able to make plays. So where does this team go from here?  They have a really tough game coming up in Detroit against a high-octane offense and an awful defense.  It could be the perfect game to get Rex on track.  But a lot will depend on the status of all the injuries and if the offensive line remembers how to block.  

I really do think that this team will be fine, though it is getting harder to support the Grossman/Turner regime.  

Bears' Ayanbadejo suspended 4 games:

The Bears got some bad news Thursday when the NFL suspended fullback Obafemi Ayanbadejo four games for violating the league's policy on anabolic steroids and related substances.

Not sure that it really makes a big difference, but you hate to lose people because of stupidity.

Interestingly the Bears already knew about this before the signed him.

Here you go:

The Cubs purchased the contract of Eric Patterson from Triple-A Iowa and placed Alfonso Soriano on the disabled list Monday.

The Cubs also designated infielder Brian Dopirak, currently at Class A Daytona, for assignment. In addition, pitcher Wade Miller has been placed on waivers to grant his unconditional release.

Wade Miller is gone!!!!!  Oh how we will miss you.

So Jake Plummer may be fined by Tampa Bay Bucs because is trying to retire (emphasis added):

The Bucs aren't going to let Jake Plummer stiff-arm them much longer.

Plummer is subject to being fined for missing the Bucs' three-day mandatory minicamp that concluded Thursday, and indications are the team will ask him to repay about $7-million of a prorated signing bonus if he fails to play this season.
...
"You can't unilaterally retire as a player in the NFL," Allen said, "because you have a contract. He is under the same obligations as every player on the team."

So why is that players cannot break contracts, but ownership/management can?

It is pretty ridiculous that Allen can sit there are talk about how Plummer "has a contract" when he has the complete freedom to essentially make any said contract null and void.  

Is the NFL Players union one of the weakest labor unions in the country?

This kinda' funny.  But it is also kinda' annoying.

Can't Urlacher just shut up and play instead of trying to make statements?

Urlacher plays a numbers game:

With five weeks left until the start of training camp, linebacker Brian Urlacher understandably had nothing to say Wednesday on his way off the field after the Bears' final organized team activity.

Urlacher already had made a statement anyway, subtle yet significant, by wearing Lance Briggs' No. 55 during practice in support of a teammate locked in a contract dispute with the Bears bound only to get worse.

I have to say that this is both cool and really interesting:

Nine months pregnant and married to a fervent Bears fan with tickets to Sunday's NFC Championship game, Colleen Pavelka didn't want to risk going into labor during the game against the New Orleans Saints.

Due to give birth on Monday, Pavelka's doctor told her Friday she could induce labor early. She opted for the Friday delivery.

"I thought, how could [Mark] miss this one opportunity that he might never have again in his life?" said Pavelka, 28, from the southwestern Chicago suburb of Homer Glen.

At 10:45 p.m. Friday, Mark Patrick Pavelka was born at Palos Community Hospital after close to six hours of labor.

While her husband watched the Bears play the New Orleans Saints at Soldier Field Sunday, Colleen planned to watch in the hospital with the baby wrapped in a Bears blanket -- a Christmas gift from his grandmother.

There are most definitely some ethical issues involved here (Majikthise has more if you interested on the ethical issues), but I don't think many around here really care about that.

But I do know that my wife would NEVER induce labor early so that I could watch a Bears game!

I was thinking that I would audition for a role on ESPN, and here is some of my material for the next two weeks:

• 
  
• Rex Grossman is terrible, and there is no way that a quarterback that bad could win the Super Bowl
• 
  
• Lovie Smith is grossly underpaid and the Bears may lose him.  How dare they pay such a great coach such little money.
• 
  
• Tank Johnson is a really bad man.  Because he owned guns.
• 
  
• Being that Drew Brees threw for so many yards against the Bears, just imagine how many yards Peyton Manning will throw against them!
• 
  
• We were wrong about picking the Saints against the Bears, but there is no way the Bears could beat the Colts.  I mean, come on - the Bears sucked against the Packers
• 
  
• This is the plan - lets run constant highlights of Rex's interceptions and ignore the several games where he played like one of the best quarterbacks in the league
• 
  
• The Colts running is game is good.  Really good.  And the Bears?  Well it doesn't matter that they have two really, really good running backs.  Because the Colts have a better running game.  Because numbers and performance don't really matter, because the Colts have Addai!!!
• 
  
• Peyton Manning. Peyton Manning! PEYTON MANNING!!!!
• 
  
• And oh yea, Colts for four touchdowns
• 
  

Did anyone else catch Rex's post-game press conference?

I loved that he was asked, "How long was the last two weeks for you?"  He responded appropriately:

"14 days"

He also had a quote about the media:

"You (the media) give yourself too much credit of how much you affect me."

With that said, I am sick of the media's hatefest with Rex Grossman.  Even after he played quite well, he was criticized.  He was blamed by some for his interception even though it was clear that they pass should have been caught (though it was far from a perfect pass).

Lets be honest.  Rex did everything that he needed to yesterday and made few mistakes.

And I am the only one who is still more worried about the Bears defense than Rex?  Because New Orleans is a far superior offensive team to the Seahawks.

Yea...I am playing on the internet on New Years Eve.  Some life I have! :)

Good News:

• Benson looked great, and continued to prove that he is a better runner than Thomas Jones.
• No one got hurt.
• It doesn't matter, because the Bears now have time to rest and get ready for the playoffs.
• There is no quarterback controversy, as both Grossman and Griese were bad.  So therefore we just stick with the original bad instead of the new bad.  And I am not worried about Grossman.

Bad News:

• The Bears were completely unprepared to play football tonight.
• Grossman.
• Griese.
• 1st half defense.  
• Listening to NBC's love fest for Favre.  

• Rex looked good.  He was not perfect, and far from great, but he played well and made few mistakes.  I loved that he got back to using Clark.  The TE position has seemed to be missing the last several weeks, so this is a good step.
• Clark looked great.  Of course, it helps that Rex actually decided to throw him the ball!
• Benson is still better than Jones, regardless of what Rob G. thinks.  He is so much more explosive. And Adrian Peterson looked really good also.  It is a great luxury to have three very good running backs.
• Bears defense.  I am not that worried.  They didn't give up many yards at all until the 4th quarter.  They were playing a prevent defense, and got beat deep once and on a short slant once that broke into open field.  They will be fine, as was evidenced by their dominating first half.
• With that said, the Bears secondary is pretty poor without Vasher and Brown.  I don't think the Bears will have nearly the defense that they had a few weeks ago without Harris and Tank, but Vasher will be back which will help the secondary a lot.

The Score was reporting this morning that Willie Posey, Tank's friend an bodyguard, was killed at a night club last night.  Tank was allegedly with him.

Here is the story from the Trib:

The personal troubles of Chicago Bears nose tackle Tank Johnson continued early Saturday when a man tentatively identified as his bodyguard was shot to death outside a Chicago nightclub.

The Cook County Medical Examiner's office said Willie B. Posey, 26, was pronounced dead at Northwestern Memorial Hospital about 2 a.m. The office listed Posey's address as Johnson's home in north suburban Gurnee.

Wow...

This cannot be good:

Bears player's home searched by police:

Gurnee police executed a search warrant Thursday at the home of Chicago Bears defensive tackle Terry "Tank" Johnson in what sources described as an apparent drug raid.

Johnson, a third-year Bear who has had two previous run-ins with the law since joining the NFL team, apparently was not home when Gurnee police executed a search warrant shortly before 11 a.m. in the 400 block of Delany Road in the far north suburb.

Sources familiar with the case said police apparently were seeking drugs.

Wonderful...like we really needed to lose another player on our already depleted defense.

Lets hope it is not as bad as it looks.

More random musings...

• 
  
• The Cubs signed SORIANO!!!  Oh wait...wasn't there  a Bear's game yesterday?
• The Bear's defense is really good, but only when it wants to be.
• Rex Grossman did not make any big mistakes, which is exciting.  Sure, he didn't play great, but he didn't lose the game.  It was very "Orton-esque".
• The Bears are leading the North by five games with six to play.  That is a bit silly.
• The running game looked good.
• Bradly proved that he belongs on the field.  Were Berrian and Moose even on the field yesterday?
• The Bears should move up to #1 in the power rankings.
• 
  
• Possible playoff teams that scare me - Carolina, Carolina, Carolina.  San Diego.  Indianapolis.
• 
  

• Despite Jones huge play at the end of the first half, he really did not play very well.  His fumble and his missed block leading to Grossman's fumble highlight lead the way, but it was more than that.  Even in the second half he wasn't overly productive after the first drive.  
• Related to that, the Bears offensive line has simply been unable to open up holes all season.  That is very concerning.
• Why the heck did the Giants stop blitzing in the second half?
• Related to that, Grossman played well, even in the first half.  After Grossman's interception, he really settled down and stopped making bad decisions.  He did not have much production in the 1st half, but he also wasn't throwing off his back foot or being foolish.  This was encouraging.  But the Giants defensive scheme was great in the 1st half, and they seemed to abandon that.
• Why did the Giants stop throwing to Burress?  Burress was right that the Bears corners are not great, or even good, cover guys.  He picked the secondary (specifically Tillman) apart in the 1st half, and then they abandoned that.
• The Bears cannot stop the run.  They are not nearly as bad as the Colts, but they are not very good.  That is VERY concerning.
• Bradley looked good, and Moose looked really good.  Who would have thought this off season that our receiving core would be such a strength?

Poll

Does the Bears run defense concern you?

3%

Hell No

1 votes

30%

Hell Yes

9 votes

16%

Yes

5 votes

16%

Maybe

5 votes

33%

No

10 votes

30 votes | Poll has closed

Some brief thoughts on yesterday's loss:

• Berrian means everything to this offense.  Without Berrian, this team cannot really stretch the field.  No other Bears receiver can consistently beat a corner down the field.  Even worse, when Berrian is not on the field we are stuck with Gage, who simply is not that good.
• Benson looked good - really explosive.  I am going to continually harp on this, because I think it is important.  Benson is a better runner than Jones, and needs to get more carries.  He was also able to make a couple of key blocks.  Free Cedric!!!
• Grossman sucks when playing from behind.  He tries to win the game by himself and ends up making bad decisions and bad throws.  
• Urlacher?  The Bears defense without Urlacher simply would not be that good.  Lets just hope that there is no ligament damage.
• Good news?  The Bears responded to the Cardinals near-loss with maybe their best game of the year.  Maybe we can see the same next week?  
• Bring on The Road Trip© !!

I just wanted to point that I unfortunately was right when I said that I was a little worried!

Of course, I also predicted the score to be 40-10, so I decided to swing from both sides!

Okay...now the campaign. I think we need to start a "We Want Benson" campaign. As I mentioned in a comment, I believe that Benson has shown to be significantly more explosive than Thomas Jones. I see why he was named the starter over Jones before the pre-season. It is because he is a better runner.

Benson can and should be be helping this team, but he is mostly ignored and left on the sidelines. He only has one carry and one reception.

I have no problem using Thomas Jones also. The Saints have found ways to use two very good running backs, why can't we?

I think (hope?) that we will see Cedric Benson playing a significant role on this team by the end of the season.