By Jimmy Street/The Daily Journal
Matt Forte had been the most consistent bright point for the Chicago Bears’ offense through the first six days of camp, but during the seventh day of work in Bourbonnais, the rest of the unit began to show signs of progress.
After appearing to take several steps in the wrong direction Monday — with several dropped passes, interceptions, fumbles and penalties — the Bears’ offense minimized their mistakes and looked much better Tuesday.
Forte continued to shine and showed his ability to run both inside and outside the tackles in close-range situations, but the biggest news of the day was Olin Kreutz’s return to what has been an injury-plagued offensive line.
“Olin is a leader of this team,” offensive coordinator Ron Turner said. “Not only (is he) a vocal leader, but he’s just a leader by example. He’s a great football player, so you miss that part of him, but we miss his leadership in the huddle.”
Rex Grossman took his turn with the first-team offense on Tuesday, but both he and Kyle Orton looked much better than they had in the previous workouts.
Both the first- and second-team units looked especially sharp during red-zone drills, where Grossman fired a touchdown pass to Desmond Clark and then Forte took a handoff and rumbled to paydirt. The only real miscues of the afternoon came when Zack Bowman made an outstanding play to intercept an Orton pass in the end zone, and when Grossman bobbled a snap.
After yesterday’s disappointing level of play, Turner noticed a hunger for redemption in the members of his offense.
“Going against a tremendous defense, if we’re not sharp or we’re not extremely focused, it’s going to show,” Turner said. “Yesterday we weren’t very focused and it showed, but the good thing was that I could see from the minute I walked on this field that the guys weren’t very happy about yesterday’s practice — too many drops, too many penalties, too much sloppy play, we hurt ourselves — and they had a focus about them.
“This team has a lot of pride and it was good to see them bounce back.”
Roster move & injury update
Caleb Hanie, an undrafted rookie out of Colorado State University, solidified his role as Chicago’s No. 3 option at quarterback on Tuesday when the Bears waived Nick Hill to make room for Kreutz.
Hanie started 28 games during his four-year career with the Rams and ranks fifth in Mountain West Conference history with 39 touchdown passes. He threw for 2,455 yards and 18 touchdowns during his senior season.
Chester Adams (stomach) and Dusty Dvoracek (calf) remain on the non-football injury list, while Kevin Jones (knee) is now the lone player who is physically unable to perform. Chris Williams (back) is still on the active roster, but was not a part of Tuesday’s workout.
After taking Monday off, Anthony Adams, Marty Booker, Desmond Clark and Israel Idonije were all back on the field on Tuesday. Charles Tillman was excused for the second straight day for personal reasons.
i have been a HUGE Bears fan forever. in fact some say i’m on the verge of being obsessed. my entire downstairs is a bears shrine. it’s where my familly and friends gather to watch every game the bears play in my make-shift museum. i even have a piece of origianl astroturf payton used to play on and an original seat from soldier field.
so, it will come as no surprise that i attend the Bears traning camps. did i mention i’m from Evansville, in? the heart of Colts County? Being a bears fan as i am here isn’t easy sometimes.
what impressed me most this time at camp was robbie gould and devin hester.
one day robbie gould was at the tennis courts signing for the kids. when he got done he went all the way back over to the guantlet and signed for more fans. he didn’t have to but he did, for the fans.
on devin hester’s first day at practice he also signed, for an hour.just about everyone there got his autograph. i did, 3 times.
both of these players get it. they understand the need to interact with the fans. i now have 2 new favorite players.
i have 2 players that i am upset over. first, brian urlacher. i understand he doesn’t sign. too bad. devin hester proved you can, and not get hurt or mobbed. but, saturday night, when he took the field under the lights. the crowd screamed! he didn’t even turn around and wave, or even acknowledge that we, his fans, were there.
the second player that i now hope gets cut will be revealed in a second. first i want to tell you this.
for the last 10 years i have been living in pain and agony. i have had 3 MAJOR back surgeries. my back is now fused. i take pain killers like candy, just to get out of bed. i still work though. i have to provide for my family and set a good example for my kids, although i could quit and draw social security.
the last 2 years have been rough. my back prevents me from getting any type of excersize, and my weight shot up to 370lbs. i applied to have weight loss surgery. while waiting for approval my gall bladder had to come out. this past january i blew out my right knee and had to have surgery on it too. my knee couldn’t handle the weight of my body. then, in may i tore my left achilles heel. my body was giving up on me. then, on june 10th, i finally had my weight loss surgery. i am feeling great and have lost 40lbs already! so i attended training camp this year. i have a walking cast on my left ankle for the torn achillies, but went anyway. then i saw him. the chicago bears player that has something in common with me- achillies problem. yes, olin kruetz. as he as walking by the guantlet i wanted to get his autograph. after all, he is a pro-bowl player. he came out late, and most fans left the guanlet area by his time. as he came by, i said hey olin, we have something in common, a bad achillies. i showed him my cast. i wanted to connect with him so he would be more apt to sign for me. but, his response floored me! he said “it’s because YOU’RE overweight”. he said it very harsh and kept walking. the crowd that was there couldn’t believe what he said. even staley the mascot couldn’t believe it and came over to give me a hug. granted he didn’t know my personal story, but, to be that rude to a fan???? i can no longer stand him. i sincerely hope he gets cut. we need a younger offensve line anyway.
clint
I believe the Olen Kruetz remark was inappropriate and insulting. Olen is a tough no nonsense guy. Remember he made the Pro Bowl 6 times. He once broke the jaw of a teammate in practice. Most of his teammates are afraid of him. You still have to respect his tremendous contribution to the Bears? I admit Kruetz and Urlacher have no rapport or personal skills with the fans, which is unfortunate. Guys like that I have learned to ignore at Training Camp. I concentrate on the personable ones, Robbie Gould, Tommie Harris, Devin Hester, Rex Grossman, Kyle Orton, Brad Maynard, just to name a few.