Bears quarterbacks Kyle Orton, left, and Rex Grossman participate in passing drills during the first day training camp last week. — The Associated Press
By Jimmy Street/The Daily Journal
When Kyle Orton and Rex Grossman arrived at Olivet Nazarene University for training camp, their chances of winning the starting quarterback position were so even that a coin flip was used to decide who got to start the first day with the first-team offense.
After Wednesday night’s practice, the coin appears to still be up in the air and it isn’t going to land any time soon.
Neither quarterback has looked extraordinary during the opening week at ONU, but each has been able to minimize his mistakes in the team’s two most recent practices.
Orton probably had the best performance that either quarterback has had to date on Wednesday. The highlight of the evening came during a 7-on-7 drill, when Orton was able to connect with Rashied Davis for a long touchdown pass with Corey Graham and Brandon McGowan in coverage.
Davis and Devin Hester possess the kind of speed that will give the Bears some real chances to try their luck with the deep ball this season, and the bomb from Orton showed that Grossman might not be the only one who can air it out when necessary.
“This offense is built around running the football and then making big plays in the passing game,” Orton said. “So when you have your opportunities, you have to hit them.”
The Bears’ offense has been hitting more of its opportunities of late, and has collectively started to jell since Olin Kreutz got back into the mix on Tuesday. Davis attributed the increased productivity to the time the unit has spent together during the first eight days of camp.
“We’ve been here for a week, so it’s time to start picking things up and making a lot more plays,” Davis said. “Everybody was throwing the ball well and catching the ball well tonight.”
Both the first- and second-team units were able to move the ball effectively for most of the night, but they saved their best work for the two-minute drill on Wednesday.
Orton started the first unit’s drive by hitting Brandon Rideau on a 25-yard out pattern. Then he connected with Marty Booker and handed off to Matt Forte twice, before Robbie Gould nailed a 48-yard field goal.
Grossman started out his drive with a first-down completion to Mike Hass, before he threw a short pass to Greg Olsen. The big play of the second-team’s drive came when Grossman zipped a pass to rookie Earl Bennett for a 20-yard gain that eventually led to a successful 47-yarder by Gould.
The progress that is starting to become visible for the offense is something that Orton has expected to see as camp goes on.
“Each practice we should be getting better,” Orton said. “That’s what we’re supposed to be doing in camp. The more reps you get, the more comfortable you get with all the new plays we’ve been installing. I think the last couple of days we’ve really looked pretty sharp on offense.”
Coach Lovie Smith has been pleased with both of his quarterbacks throughout the first week of camp.
“We’re pleased with what both of our quarterbacks have done,” Smith said. “Some days will be a little bit better than others. They’ve had bad passes, but for the most part we’re really pleased with what both of them have done.”
