That sentence — or some variance of it — has been heard several times during training camp in regard to something negative new quarterback Jay Cutler has — or has not — done.

Cutler has avoided talking to the main Bears’ media during [...]]]> “Say what you want about Rex and Orton, but they wouldn’t have done that.”

That sentence — or some variance of it — has been heard several times during training camp in regard to something negative new quarterback Jay Cutler has — or has not — done.

Cutler has avoided talking to the main Bears’ media during camp except on Wednesdays and Saturdays, hopping on a cart immediately after practice without answering questions.

“Say what you want about Rex Grossman …”

Cutler has routinely avoided signing autographs after practice, despite being the most sought-after player on the team.

“Say what you want about Kyle Orton …”

After Saturday’s less-than-inspiring debut performance in a Bears’ uniform at Buffalo, Cutler suggested that Devin Hester didn’t do enough to prevent one of his poorly thrown and ill-advised passes from being intercepted, while taking virtually none of the blame himself.

“Say what you want about Rex and Orton …”

Hester said Cutler didn’t mean anything derogatory by the phrase, but the quarterback was unavailable after practice to clarify himself because, you know, it wasn’t Wednesday.

When news of the trade that brought Cutler to their favorite team, Bears fans were too busy high-fiving each other and dancing in the streets to hear the grumbling coming from Denver about Cutler’s prima donna tendencies.

Sour grapes, Bears fans retorted.

Well, apparently fans in Denver weren’t just bitter about losing the Pro Bowl QB. They were on to something.

Make no mistake; there’s no doubt that Cutler is an upgrade at the quarterback position, and that, in turn, gives the Chicago Bears a much better chance to succeed this season than they would have had with Grossman or Orton under center.

And when it comes down to it, Cutler owes the media nothing. The Wednesday-Saturday treatment of the media mirrors a Bears regular-season policy in which quarterbacks are available on Wednesdays and game days. If reporters don’t like Cutler’s training camp silence, tough for them.

Cutler also owes autograph hounds nothing. Elite players in particular can be victims of sleazy memorabilia salespeople who hire young kids and even people of special needs to get various items signed, before selling those items for large profits. Those players often don’t partake in many mass autograph sessions in an effort to avoid being taken advantage of.

As for his criticism of Hester, if Cutler wants to be a leader on his new team, taking teammates to task for poor effort is a dirty, but necessary, part of the job.

The only thing Cutler needs to worry about is not who he offends or how he comes across, but winning games. If he wins, nobody will care if he’s a diva.

But what if he doesn’t win?

In that case, he becomes a smug, distant jerk who doesn’t seem to appreciate fans and apparently forgot from where he came.

Say what you want about previous Bears’ quarterbacks, but you could never say that.

Rob Laird can be reached by phone at 815-937-3390 or by e-mail at rlaird@daily-journal.com.

Chicago has every reason to believe the 60-year-old assistant head coach and defensive line coach of the Bears will be able to [...]]]> One year after making history he didn’t want to make in Detroit (being the first 0-16 team in NFL history), Rod Marinelli will attempt to turn around a Bears defense that struggled in 2008.

Chicago has every reason to believe the 60-year-old assistant head coach and defensive line coach of the Bears will be able to make the Bears defense look more like “Monsters of the Midway” and less like the “Care Bear” defense it displayed in 2008.

Marinelli’s track record as a defensive line coach speaks for itself.

He was the defensive line coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that won Super Bowl XXXVII, the first championship in team history.

During his tenure in Tampa Bay (2002-06), he built a dominant defensive line, featuring two possible Hall of Fame defensive linemen in Warren Sapp and Simeon Rice.

The talent and potential will be there for Marinelli to lead.

He inherits a dominant, when healthy, defensive tackle in Tommie Harris and has other pass rushers, Alex Brown and Mark Anderson, who have both shown flashes of being able to get to the passer.

Anderson had 12 sacks in 2006, but has never returned to form, sacking the quarterback a combined six times over the last two seasons. He has a lot to prove and will hopefully excel under Marinelli’s guidance.

Brown led the team in sacks last season with six and the entire team netted just 28 sacks.

The defensive line’s inability to get to the quarterback last season was a major problem. Chicago had 28 sacks as a team, 22.5 of which came from the defensive line.

Under Marinelli’s guidance, Tampa Bay established a single-season record in sacks (55), 45.5 of which came from the defensive line he coached.

Perhaps another reason Marinelli will turn the defensive line around is the respect his players have for him.

“He just demands the best out of everybody,” defensive tackle Anthony Adams said. “He expects everybody to be on their stuff and know everything. Just when you think you’ve done your best, he expects you to improve, so it only makes you get better.”

So, don’t be fooled by the poor numbers in Detroit as a head coach. It would be hard for anyone to win with the way the franchise has been run over the last 10 years.

Marinelli has the knowledge and talent with him to remind the fans of the dominance of the Monsters of the Midway 24 years ago.

Combine all this with new starting quarterback Jay Cutler throwing the passes, and maybe, just maybe, Chicago could see a remake of the Super Bowl Shuffle.

Contact Allan Scarabello at sports@daily-journal.com

Any team must decide whether or not the underlying risk is worth the reward.

I’m not really prepared to discuss whether or not Vick should be playing. That was for the National Football League to decide, and they’ve made [...]]]> Michael Vick is currently searching for a team willing to take a chance on his immense physical gifts.

Any team must decide whether or not the underlying risk is worth the reward.

I’m not really prepared to discuss whether or not Vick should be playing. That was for the National Football League to decide, and they’ve made the decision recently, declaring that Vick has been conditionally reinstated to play in the NFL after serving a five-week suspension.

Let’s put aside the discussion of whether or not that, along with his 23-month prison sentence, was just. Arguing about that is pointless, considering he’s likely to get a chance from someone.

But should that someone be the Bears?

There’s no question that Vick will probably be capable of helping some team in some capacity. At 29, Vick is far from past his athletic prime and given the right fit, he could be an excellent additional weapon to some team’s offensive arsenal.

Vick’s unique gifts, however, also require an offense that is willing to adapt and shift to suit the sorts of things in which he excels. A standard pro-set offense would be a disaster if engineered by Vick, whose 53.8 completion percentage and 75.7 career quarterback rating are well below league averages in both categories.

And don’t think that the nearly three years removed from competition won’t have a staggering effect on his production. Even with his former team, the Atlanta Falcons, Vick was very much a work in progress as a quarterback, often using his skills as a scrambler to avert problems standard quarterbacks wouldn’t be able to wiggle out of.

Those intuitive abilities were exactly what made Vick frightening to both opposing defenses and people on his own team. Both sides had difficulty predicting exactly what might happen next.

That sort of instability is exactly what the Bears don’t need. Would Vick provide someone with ample experience to serve in a backup role? Most definitely. Would that be worth the circus coming to town if Bears signed him? Absolutely not.

If you would have asked me a year ago what I would have thought about Vick coming to the Bears, I probably would have advocated it, knowing deep down that it would probably end in disaster anyway. But the trade for the established Jay Cutler virtually nullified the Bears’ need to take a colossal gamble on Vick.

The Bears don’t have a long history of using athletic quarterbacks with great success, either. The most recent attempt at using a more athletic player in the pocket was Kordell Stewart, but the team didn’t do a great job of utilizing Stewart’s tools. It seemed like the team was trying to put a square peg into a round hole. It just didn’t fit.

Don’t get me wrong. I wouldn’t mind seeing what Vick could do in a trick backfield alignment with Devin Hester and Matt Forte. I think it would be fun. But just like the Wildcat offense the Bears have tinkered with in each of the last three practices, I don’t really believe the team will utilize the offense much or at all once the season starts. It’s not really their style.

Even if the Bears had an interest in Vick — and from all public indications, they do not — it probably wouldn’t be in his best interest to come here. Vick needs somewhere that has a great need at the quarterback position and a willingness to revamp and reconfigure their offense to make him an actual threat.

The Bears don’t fill the bill on either of those counts.

Hopefully, the Minnesota Vikings don’t figure out that they do.

Steve Soucie can be reached by e-mail at ssoucie@daily-journal.com or by phone at 815-937-3392.

The other two quarterbacks currently on the Bears roster, Brett Basanez and Caleb Hanie, have a grand total of zero snaps between them in the regular season.

Because of that, conventional wisdom almost dictates [...]]]> Like most every other NFL team, there is concern of what happens if Bears starting quarterback Jay Cutler was injured during the season.

The other two quarterbacks currently on the Bears roster, Brett Basanez and Caleb Hanie, have a grand total of zero snaps between them in the regular season.

Because of that, conventional wisdom almost dictates the Bears fill the No. 2 quarterback spot on their roster with a veteran quarterback with some experience under his belt.

At least for the time being, though, the Bears have elected to go against the grain on this one, allowing Hanie and Basanez to duel for the backup duties.

So if Cutler should get injured, the Bears will likely find themselves in a world of trouble.

But to be completely honest, even if the Bears had addressed the situation by bringing in a veteran such as Byron Leftwich (who eventually signed with Tampa Bay) to serve as little more than Cutler’s caddie, a Cutler injury would still likely send the Bears into a tailspin they might not be able to recover from.

Backups, whether they be veteran or young, are usually backups because they simply aren’t all that good. Few teams in the NFL can afford the luxury of having two quality quarterbacks on their roster, and those that do, usually trade away to strengthen the team elsewhere.

Look no further than New England for the guide in this. Last year, Matt Cassel filled in admirably for an injured Tom Brady, only to be jettisoned to Kansas City quickly after Brady’s return to health.

Not only are many other teams lacking at the backup quarterback position, some are woefully lacking at the starting quarterback position.

And it’s often said that teams that are having an open quarterback competition in training camp aren’t having it because they can’t decide among a number of quality options, but rather because they are trying to pick through a pile of substandard options.

I’m not usually a glass-half-full guy. But in Cutler’s case, it is easier to hope for (and likely get) the best. Since his arrival in the NFL, Cutler has been as durable as can be. After taking the job from Jake Plummer in Week 13 of the 2006 season, Cutler hasn’t missed a single start. He’s had his fair share of nicks and injuries but has battled through them all.

It’s one of the reasons the acquisition of Cutler was a tremendous fit for a franchise that has historically struggled to fill the position. He’s clearly one of the elite players at the position, and although it is a small sample size, he’s so far proved to be very durable.

So the Bears will likely not need to worry about the player holding the clipboard on Sundays and can revel in the fact that many of the teams in their own division will.

Green Bay is the only team in the division that is set at quarterback (with Aaron Rodgers).

Detroit will likely continue to languish while trying No. 1 overall draft pick Matthew Stafford or uninspiring veteran Daunte Culpepper.

Minnesota is even more of a mess. After flirting with Brett Favre before he retired for the 76th time, they are now trying to sort between journeyman Sage Rosenfels and middling youngster Tavaris Jackson.

Things could go wrong over the course of the season, but it will be a refreshing change that Bears fans will have to come up with a different excuse than the fandom’s longtime standby — “We’d be great if we only had a quarterback.”

Steve Soucie can be reached at ssoucie@ daily-journal.com or 815-937-3392.

As perhaps the area’s biggest sporting event approaches, we are getting all hands — and reporters’ notebooks — on deck.

The National Football League’s Chicago Bears will hold their first training camp practice of the summer on Friday, July 31, at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, and [...]]]> Stepping up our training camp coverage

Caleb Benoit, Sports Editor

As perhaps the area’s biggest sporting event approaches, we are getting all hands — and reporters’ notebooks — on deck.

The National Football League’s Chicago Bears will hold their first training camp practice of the summer on Friday, July 31, at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, and The Daily Journal will be there for all three weeks of their stay.

I think we say this every year, but I believe it to be true —this year’s training camp coverage will be the best it has ever been. Here’s what you can expect:

• In our newspaper, there will be 15 editions of Bears Extra, the coverage we provide during the Bears’ stay in Bourbonnais. Bears Extra will included stories, photos, updated rosters, stats, news from around the league and a full-page-sized Bears photo keepsake — each day there is a practice in Bourbonnais.

• News@Noon, The Daily Journal’s daily news videocast, will be shot on location at training camp as many time as logistically possible. Host Mike Frey and his co-anchor — often yours truly — may show up at the concession stand, the 50-yard line, or next to you in a lawn chair.

• A revamped BearsCamp.org has been launched. The site has been completely redesigned and features the training camp schedule, directions to camp and all the stories that can be seen in Bears Extra — even a page where you can share your own photos. You can also comment on the site by logging in with your Facebook account, allowing you to share your comments, stories and photos with your Facebook friends. Just click “Connect with Facebook” on the left side of the page.

• BearsCamp.org will also be the place where you can check out The Daily Journal’s video reports and analyses and Twitter updates by Bears players.

In addition to these features, if you have any suggestions or story ideas, we’d be glad to hear them. And, as always, if you have any questions about training camp (or our coverage in general), you can contact me at cbenoit@daily-journal.com or 815-937-3391.

The first thing I noticed about practice was the [...]]]> As I approached Ward Field to watch the Chicago Bears practice, I was kicking myself for agreeing to do an article because I had no ideas about what angle to approach it from. But I decided to watch the practice through the eyes of a basketball coach.

The first thing I noticed about practice was the high level of organization. Each drill was timed out to the minute: The players knew where to go and the coaches were enthusiastic and did a good job of involving the players and teaching. I also noticed how the entire practice area was utilized. I was amazed by the number of coaches — they were everywhere.

The second thing I looked for was who I would recruit to play basketball for me. I know nothing about their basketball ability, so I was looking for athletic ability, size, and most of all, quickness. There is a difference between speed and quickness — athletes with good “straight ahead” speed are not necessarily quick.

Finding my guards was pretty easy. Charles Tillman gives me a big guard and Nathan Vasher would be the point guard.

What excites me about them is I can imagine them on defense. They could disrupt any offense. One forward would be Matt Forte, who is very smooth and athletic. Power forward had a couple canidates: John Tait (at 6-foot-6, he’s not as quick with his feet but no one would push him around) and Brian Urlacher (so quick with his feet and reaction time). I decided to go with Urlacher.

In the post would be Kellen Davis, who really impressed me with his blend of size and quickness. At 6-7, 260 pounds, he has great feet, can run with the “little” guys and displayed some intensity.

My sixth man would be Mark Anderson, who impressed me with his size, quickness and work ethic.

It was also hard to overlook John St. Clair, who looks much taller than he is listed at 6-5. He would be a great post presence.

The third thing I observed was how much time the coaches spend teaching technique at half-speed. Actually, there was very little time spent doing what I would consider “full-speed,” and even then players only went about four or five plays before rotating out. I also thought there was a feeling of “going through the motions,” and overall, the full-speed part of practice lacked the intensity I had expected.

I always enjoy watching how other coaches organize and execute practice, and the Bears staff would get an ‘A’ in that area.

In that same vein, you could not help but be impressed with the planning and organization of the Olivet Nazarene University staff. Everything ran very smoothly.

One other observation was how enthusiastic the Bears fans were, and their dedication to the team is quite impressive. It rivals the fans of the Boston Red Sox.

I also learned that I just don’t have what it takes to be a sports reporter:

* I’m not tough enough. It got pretty chilly and I left 15 minutes before practice was over.

* I’m not patient enough. I kept waiting for something exciting to happen — it never did.

* I’m not creative enough. I never did come up with a good angle for the story. I appreciate those writers who have to come up with new insight everyday.

As for me, I will retire to my role as a second-guesser on the radio. It’s much easier.

~ Denny Lehnus has been coaching basketball since 1965 and is a member of the Illinois Basketball Coaches
Association Hall of Fame. You can hear him broadcast high school football and basketball games on WKAN-AM 1320.

Chicago Bears wide receiver coach Darryl Drake is apparently a closet baseball fan.

So when Drake drew the comparison of the unfortunate tale of former New York Yankee Wally Pipp as a possible jumping off point for his crew of largely untested and unknown wide receivers, it seemed apt.

Pipp was the first [...]]]> By Steve Soucie, sports writer

Chicago Bears wide receiver coach Darryl Drake is apparently a closet baseball fan.

So when Drake drew the comparison of the unfortunate tale of former New York Yankee Wally Pipp as a possible jumping off point for his crew of largely untested and unknown wide receivers, it seemed apt.

Pipp was the first baseman replaced by all-time great Lou Gehrig. When Pipp asked out of a game because of a headache, Gehrig seized the opportunity presented to him with ridiculous levels of success, playing over 2,00 consecutive games. Pipp never got back in the game with the Yankees, was traded to Cincinnati the next season, and was gone from baseball three years later.

While the sports of baseball and football are inherently different, stories of opportunity within them are often one and the same.

And opportunities all over the offensive side of the football, particularly at wide receiver, are abundant for the 2008 Chicago Bears.

The question is, “Do the Bears have a bunch of potential Gehrigs or a bunch of Pipps?”

The consensus around the league seems to be that the Bears have a stableful of Pipps. The Sporting News recently ranked each of the National Football Conference’s units as a whole. All four of the Bears’ major offensive skill groups (quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers and offensive line) ranked in the lowest 25 percent of the conference.

And the receivers were dead last.

But with a new season, optimism always reigns, and Drake for one is confident that his group has the potential to be better than most think.

“In life, things happen. In life, you are not always dealt the best hand, but the hand you are dealt you got to make the best out of it,” Drake said.

Making the best out of things will certainly be an important task for Drake at training camp. First on the list — finding his football equivalent of Lou Gehrig.

But does he have one?

The veterans in camp seem to be unlikely candidates to make that leap. Marty Booker is six years removed from a season where he caught more than 60 footballs, and there had to be a good reason why a pass-catching-deficient Miami Dolphins team figured it could do without his services.

Brandon Lloyd’s checkered five years in the league includes stops with San Francisco and Washington. None of those seasons accorded any reason to believe that Lloyd has No. 1 receiver written all over him.

The holdout by Devin Hester doesn’t help, either. Hester provides a dramatic upgrade in the explosive playmaking of the unit, but he could use all the repetitions he can get. Considering that Hester has accumulated a grand total of 20 catches in the NFL to date, it would be foolish to heap too much expectation on him.

Mark Bradley is a tantalizing prospect, but the word prospect must be used liberally in his description. Two of his three seasons in the league have been prematurely ended by injury and he’s coming off another one as camp begins.

Given the chance, Rashied Davis is another player that might be capable. But Davis’ ability to be a regular contributor is also questioned as he’s been almost exclusively a return man in his three seasons. That area has obviously been infringed upon by Hester’s explosion as one of the league’s most prolific return men of all-time. Davis might fit nicely as a slot receiver, but yet again, no one’s sure if Davis can take a dramatic leap forward or is better suited for a lesser role.

Very quietly third-round draft choice Earl Bennett is trying to make his mark.

Bennett has snagged nearly everything thrown his way in camp thus far and the prolific college receiver (Bennett is the Southeastern Conference’s All-Time leader in receptions) is trying really hard to make Drake believe that he might be the man.

“The last two days, Earl Bennett looked pretty good,” Drake said. “We will continue to work him, continue to put pressure on him to be the best that he can be.”

Time will only tell whether or not Bennett is ready to make an immediate impact, but Drake is eager to point out what can happen when a player seizes the moment provided to him.

“You know. Nobody had ever heard of Lou Gehrig. Then Wally Pipp got sick one day and he held out,” Drake said. “Next thing you know Miller Huggins said, ‘Hey Gehrig, get in here.’ Then whoever heard of Wally Pipp?”

Steve Soucie can be reached by e-mail at ssoucie@daily-journal.com or phone: (815) 937-3392.

You can subscribe to the podcast feed here.

You can download the second episode directly here. Clicking the link will load the the mp3 in your browsers. To download the file to play in iTunes, etc. right click and [...]]]> Featuring The Daily Journal sports writers Steve Soucie and Rob Laird and hosted by metro editor Mike Frey.

You can subscribe to the podcast feed here.

You can download the second episode directly here. Clicking the link will load the the mp3 in your browsers. To download the file to play in iTunes, etc. right click and select “Save link as.”

Not sure what a podcast is? Learn more about it from Apple here, and download iTunes for free here.