Bring On The Vikings: Bears News And Notes
By Rob Winn in News on Sep 13, 2013 7:40PM
The Bears were able to complete the comeback behind Jay Cutler and the offense last Sunday to get head coach Marc Trestman his first victory. With solid blocking up front the Bears opened up the offense to score two touchdowns in the second half. They should be ready to come out firing against a weaker opponent in the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. However the Vikings still features arguably the best offensive player in the NFL in Adrian Peterson and defensive end Jared Allen usually has strong games against the Bears. As Sunday's game approaches here is what is going on around Halas Hall.
Reliable Rookies
The offensive line played well Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals, including the rookie right side. The Vikings defensive line is not as formidable as Cincinnati's but it will be interesting to see if Jordan Mills and Kyle Long continue to progress. Even after a strong game Long wasn't entirely happy. "The way I look at it, we did give up zero sacks, but at the same time I thought I played terrible," Long said earlier this week. Jordan Mills graded out slightly higher than Long after the coaches viewed the game tape, but both played well against one of the best defensive fronts in the league. Marc Trestman was satisfied enough to allow quarterback Jay Cutler to drop back to pass more and more as the game progressed.
Spider Webb
Vikings head coach Leslie Frazer admitted earlier in the week that he was pumping former Bears lineman J'Marcus Webb for information. "We're not finished, we got more questions for him," Frazier said. "We're going to be with him all week long so we got more questions for him. We got to keep asking him more and more." The amount of relevant information Webb will actually be able to provide is anyone's guess. Maybe a snap call or play formation, but considering Webb's level of play throughout his Bears career, Frazier should probably look at the messenger before the message.
Urlacher Drama
It wouldn't be a game week without a little drama around Halas Hall, and this week it comes from the retired Brian Urlacher. He spoke with "In Depth With Graham Bensinger" about the circumstances surrounding his retirement. First he claimed that he would have taken the contract offer from the Bears if it was presented differently. "They knew they weren't gonna move off of that offer. I just wish they'd have told me that." Urlacher said.
He later said quarterback Jay Cutler never reached out to him following his retirement announcement. "Well, I did not hear from Jay, out of all the guys I played with, but that's just—maybe we weren't as close as, like you said, as we could have been." It all sounds like sour grapes at this point. The Bears were ready to move forward without Urlacher and Cutler isn't a warm and fuzzy guy. Neither revelation should shock anyone, including Urlacher. The interview will air Sunday on WMAQ-TV NBC Chicago.