August 15, 2007

Expect Bears defense to stay among best in NFL

2007 8-17: Wolfe in Bears 8-17: Tightends 8-16: 'Peanut' 8-16: Linebackers 8-15: D-Day 8-15: Madden '08 gets 8-15: Mannelly known 8-15: Cornerbacks 8-14: A step ahead 8-14: Offensive guards, 8-13: Benson has clear More

sports@daily-journal.com

The majority of the buzz in this year's training camp has been centered on the Chicago Bears' new-look offense; but on Tuesday afternoon, the defense made several plays to signify that its reign as one of the NFL's best defensive units isn't over.

The centerpiece of the highly regarded defense, Brian Urlacher, made an eye-catching play during a 7-on-7 drill, when he dropped into pass coverage and deflected a Rex Grossman pass that was intended for rookie tight end Greg Olsen.

A few plays later, Grossman tried to connect with Olsen on a fade pattern, but the quarterback's attempt was unsuccessful again, as Adam Archuleta broke up the pass in the corner of the end zone.

Bob Babich is in his first year as the Bears' defensive coordinator, and he is excited about how Archuleta and Mike Brown are adapting to playing alongside one another in the secondary.

"I just think that they're both experienced players, and they understand what it takes to win," said Babich. "I think when one does a good thing, the other one feeds off of it; and I think that they're just in a groove playing together right now."

Head coach Lovie Smith knows that having Archuleta and Brown on the same page is something that is essential because of the importance the secondary plays in the Bears' defensive scheme.

"We ask a lot of our secondary guys," Smith said. "They have to make a lot of adjustments and things like that. Both of them are good football players, but they're football smart too. They both know the defense extremely well, and we're expecting big plays from both of them."

While Babich is excited about his veteran safeties working well together, he also talked about how much fun he had in his first game experience as the Bears' defensive coordinator.

"It was a lot of fun," said Babich. "The guys were great. The operation went smooth with the other coaches, and it was just a lot of fun. It was a growing experience for us as a staff."

Defensive end Adewale Ogunleye doesn't see much difference between this year's defensive scheme in comparison to last year.

"It's the same defense," said Ogunleye. "We're going to try to do the same as we did last year, just be a little more aggressive and get more turnovers."

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Tempers flared late in Tuesday's practice, as Antonio Garay and Roberto Garza had to be separated from each other; and although Lovie Smith doesn't like to see players fighting with their own teammates, he knows that scuffles during practice are a product of intense training camp competition.

"The competition has been fierce every day like that, which will lead to some tempers (flaring up) from time to time," said Smith. "We don't want our guys to hurt each other, but that's how life is. I had a brother growing up and we used to fight and always hug each other the next second. That's kind of how it is."

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Mark Bradley struggled to stay healthy during the Bears' 2006 campaign, and the receiver went down again on Tuesday afternoon; but he assured reporters that he didn't sit out the latter half of practice because of any type of serious injury.

"Once you're out here competing every day (after) having a serious injury, just trying to come back from injuries last year, it just got a little sore and I just took some time off," said Bradley.

Kyle Orton, Tyler Everett, Aaron Brant and Muhsin Muhammad were also out of action during the practice.