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Geaux- I thought I'd do this post for old times sakes, since I had some time on my hands. 

Jerry Angelo discusses the Bears' resiliency in the past two week's late-heroic victories, the ever developing WR corp, and the surprisingly thin LB crew.  Thank goodness LB was the deepest position on the team! 

It's unbelievable that Mr. Ridiculous, Johnny "Fort" Knox, and Earl Bennett have made just enough plays to help the team win two of its first three games. 

Here's an indication why Jerry decided to pick up McClover for the second time this early in the season. 

JA: We signed Darrell McClover for special teams purposes as what we did with Tim Shaw because Nick Roach and Jamar Williams got promoted as starters. Pisa will be back here shortly—if not this week then after our bye week against Atlanta. In the event that he and Hunter aren’t ready to go this week, then Jamar and Nick will be our starters. That would take them off special teams, so we needed a player to replace them in that area.

     Al Afalava was an afterthought by the time he was drafted in April by the Bears.  Ever since they decided to take a "flyer" on him in the sixth round, I couldn't help but to notice his name and the fact it spurred memories of Troy Polamalu roaming around the Steelers vaunted defense.  It really didn't matter what I thought of him, but there was something about him that wreaked of a true sleeper pick.  Here's what Brad Biggs said about him less than week before training camp started. 

Safety Al Afalava. The Bears went into the draft knowing they needed a free safety but with their draft position, they didn't identify any that would fill their need in what was considered a weak class. They wound up grabbing Afalava in the sixth round, and he's a strong safety although the Bears have said he can play both positions. He's a serious hitter and should provide some exciting moments late in some preseason games that are otherwise not exciting. It could be an uphill battle to make the roster and just being a thumper won't get it done for him. He needs to show instincts first. Missing the bulk of the offseason program because of the rules for schools like Oregon State that are on the quarter system didn't help him. 

 

     Al got a late start to camp because of the Stay in school program prevented him from practicing more than once during the first OTA sessions.  Once he got a chance to settle down in training camp, it was only a matter of time before getting the attention of the coaching staff and surprisingly from his veteran teammates.  His "wild eyes" got people to make crazy comparisons to Mike Singletary's extremely intense playing demeanor.  His instincts, mean-streak, size, and athleticism could be a God send for the Bears underachieving and undertalented secondary.  So far, he's brought an intensity to the defense that really hasn't had a sense of urgency since the '06 season.  In addition to his physical presence, he's shown to be a very quick study with the Bears playbook despite missing all of June's OTA practices.  Here's a Lovie quote from today's article at yahoo.com.

"We're trying to get ready for Green Bay (season opener) and we have to bring him along quickly," Bears coach Lovie Smith said Tuesday. "He missed the bulk of our off-season work related to his school but he has caught up quickly. He is a quick learner."

Hopefully, this bodes well for a Bears defense desperately needing a "shot in the arm."  With Afalava poised to win the starting SS position, Payne shifting to FS, and Bowman (if healthy) at CB, the Bears could have a very physical secondary.  With all that said, what does everyone think about Al's chances this season? Please click for Afalava's pro-day (I get chills watching this) and poll below.  I linked it up cause I couldn't get the video insert down at the bottom of the page. 

Poll

What kind of impact will Al Afalava make in his rookie campaign?

18%

Great (over 100 tackles and 3 Ints)

15 votes

61%

Good (over 75 tackles and 2 Ints)

51 votes

20%

Average (over 50 tackles and 1 Int)

17 votes

83 votes | Poll has closed

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 Mortensen asks Brian a wide range of intriguing questions that consist of Hot Rod Marinelli's influence over the defense, Orton, Cutler's "smarts," golf, last year's defensive failures, and Bears' MLB lore. 

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via www.mouthpiecesports.com

                                                                                                     

     There was a question during Harden's very poor performance against the Brewers this afternoon.  Someone came in late to the game thread and asked what exactly happened to him.  I mentioned he had bad command of the strike-zone with his fastball, and another blogger mentioned it was his control.  I disputed this notion, and he said "those two words mean the same thing."  In any event, Harden was pitching strikes, but had virtually no command on where his pitches were going within the strike-zone.  It really didn't have much to do with his control otherwise he would've walked a bunch of guys; instead he was getting hit very hard all over the field.  There is a nice piece on Pitching Tips Blog if anyone is interested in some clarification on the two terms. 

 

Command- a pitcher's ability to pitch within the strike-zone.

Pitching command means being able to locate any pitch within a certain section of the strike zone instead of just trying to throw the ball over the plate with no purpose.

Control- a pitcher's ability to pitch strikes or not. 

Pitcher's ability to improve control and throw strikes more consistently

via www.celebritymooch.com

     

     In Jerry's very first question he discusses with Larry Mayer about the progress of the Bears rookie receivers during OTAs, and how their plethora of running backs have faired so far.  There are many questions surrounding Garrett Wolfe and "our" AP, the most important being will they show enough to make the final cut at the end of training camp.  JA seems to be pointing to the possibility of keeping four running backs on the roster for the upcoming season. 

Kevin Jones is really back in true form in terms of his quickness and speed, and we’re seeing more cutting ability than we’ve seen in the past. That’s a real good sign for us; to get the tandem of Kevin and Matt Forte going as well as Garrett Wolfe with Adrian Peterson.

 This looks to be good news, because we all know Forte can't handle the burden like last year.  Actually, reading this excerpt gets me real excited to see the Bears regain a formidable tandem in the backfield. 

In addition, Jerry touches on a very hot topic in regards to Plax and the possibility of him becoming a Bear.  The rest of the questions deal with the defense's health entering training camp. 

via assets.chicagobears.com

     In what seems like a never ending series from Mayer on chicagobears.com, our own J. Angelo goes further into depth with his answers than ever before.  He has some very nice words on Jamar Williams, and if all goes well he'll be in neck-in-neck competition between Pisa and Nick('s).  Yeah, it does kind of sound like some pizza joint in suburban Chicago.  You know the kind that serve thin-crust pizza cut up in squares?  Well anyways, enough of being hungry for food from back home.  Here's a Jay Sizzle quote from JA on his attitude and work ethic. 

He’s rolled up his sleeves and he’s gone to work. He’s certainly not resting on any laurels. He’s come in here to prove himself and establish himself.

Hey Dungy- it sure seems like he's maturing before our very eyes.  Get used to being wrong.

My favorite excerpt was on Tommie Harris' all famous knee.  See what JA says about him not participating in OTAs so far, and the importance of him being in there. 

The wear and tear comes during the season, not the offseason.

I thought it was like in baseball, where a pitcher warming up doesn't count as "wear and tear." 

Make sure to vote on the poll and let me know what you guys think of JA's thoughts and comments!

 

 

 

Poll

Has Jerry Angelo become wiser this offseason?

76%

Yay

26 votes

23%

Nay

8 votes

34 votes | Poll has closed

JA only answers a handful of questions regarding rookie mini-camp, draftees' possible contribution in the regular season, and puts to rest the idea of signing an aging dinosaur from the scrap-heap.  Smart move professor. 

Here's an excerpt indicating the draftees have taken their first step in their professional football careers. 

All the players looked like they belonged. What was nice was what we saw on their college tape was reflected during our three-day minicamp. That's what it should look like, and it did.

Now if someone can just invent a time machine so we can kick the '09 season off already!