Chicago Bears

1) Last week an arrest warrant was issued for Chad Johnson because he failed to meet with his probation officer. My initial thought was; How dumb do you have to be to miss out on a scheduled visit with your probation officer? But then I realized it's probably just as stupid as getting arrested for domestic violence in the first place. 2) I like the San Diego Chargers signing of Dwight Freeney. Even though he's best suited to play a 4-3 DE, and San Diego runs the 3-4, Freeney received experience as a 3-4 OLB last year. And besides, on passing downs many 3-4 teams bring out various fronts to confuse an offense, and Freeney will be able to rush the QB from where ever he's most comfortable. 3) Oh look, another Seattle Seahawks player was busted for using PEDs. Bruce Irvin is the 7th Seahawk to test positive for an illegal substance since 2011. I wonder if Pete Carroll just took his cheating ways from USC to the Emerald City... 4) The New England Patriots are receiving quite a bit of flak for cutting DT Kyle Love after he was diagnosed with diabetes. The Pats didn't violate ant NFL rules, nor did they break any employment laws, they simply made a decision to part ways with a player they believed could no longer help them win. There are no guarantees in the NFL, and N.E. did offer him a retirement deal. And in case you missed it, the Jacksonville Jaguars did sign Love to play and he did pass his physical. 5) I'll make a prediction right now, Green Bay Packers linebacker Desmond Bishop will not win the leagues Defensive MVP. Bishop won't even be the Packers Defensive MVP. And just in case you're not sure what I'm talking about, he predicted an MVP for himself this year. 6) In the Some People Sure Are Stupid Department: Word got out that Washington Redskins QB Robert Griffin III was registered at Bed Bath And Beyond for his upcoming wedding. Thank you to the Fans who are helping buy ALL the items from our wedding registry at Bed Bath & Beyond … say.ly/MLw5Rbg— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) May 19, 2013 What would prompt fans to go to the store and buy stuff for a multimillionaire is beyond me. You have to hand it to RGIII, he's been very grateful for all his gifts. Because you are rich you are not allowed to receive gifts and any gifts you receive should be donated to charity???? #WOW Smh...— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) May 20, 2013 Smh indeed RGIII, smh indeed... 7) Per Adam Schefter, the NFL is expected to move the start of the league year up to before the NFL Combine, and push the draft back to May. What this means is an earlier free agent frenzy and more time for Mock Draft Season. 8) The Chicago Bears released DT Andre Fluellen earlier today, I wonder if there's still room for the still unemployed Israel Idonije? I think he would bring very good depth across the Bears D-Line. 9) Just in case you were still holding out hope for a Brian Urlacher return, Phil Emery pretty much slammed the door shut on that. "Brian was a great player and still is a great player," Emery said. "I have the utmost respect for Brian. As I've told people before, I've got far too many gray hairs to never say never. But obviously we've made an investment in terms of bringing a couple of key veterans in and drafting a couple rookies. So I would say that that is less likely to happen than more likely." Hopefully those few #54 faithful that are still holding a candle for their guy, can now move on and get back to focusing on the current crop of Bears players. 10) Pete Prisco of CBSSports.com asked a pressing question of each NFL team heading into the Summer. His big question for the Bears has him wondering who starts at middle linebacker. For years, it was Brian Urlacher in the middle. Now he's gone, released earlier this year. The Bears signed veteran D.J. Williams from Denver to take over in the middle. But they also drafted Florida's Jon Bostic in the second round of the draft. Whoever takes over has some big shoes

The Chicago Bears terminated the contract of defensive tackle Andre Fluellen on Monday, reducing to 89 the number of players on the roster.

LM: #Bears have terminated the contract of DT Andre Fluellen. — Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) May 20, 2013

The Bears are embarking on their third offense in the last three years. Each time Bears players welcomed the new coordinator and his new style with the optimism of the Dominican Republic (to borrow an analogy from Family Guy) "this new guy, this guy's going to get it right." In the past week alone I know I have read at least two Bears players sing the praises of Marc Trestman's offense. As per usual, we the fans are buying in, getting excited about the prospect of what the offense could be come September, despite the fact that it is May. MORE: Are Bears closer to closing the talent gap? As tough as the Chicago sports media is known to be, it is surprisingly optimistic in May. I have dug into the depths of the Windy City Gridiron archive to uncover articles from Bear's Dens of the past to see what players, coaches and the media were saying in May of 2010 when Mike Martz took over, as well as May of last year when everyone was buying into the Mike Tice system. For starters lets look at what Earl Bennett said this week about Trestman's system. From Michael C. Wright of ESPN Chicago: Bennett called the entire new coaching staff "player-friendly," and the offensive system a scheme in which "you never know who's going to have 10 to 15 catches (in) a game," adding that "it could be multiple receivers in one game have 10 to 15 catches." "This offense, actually, it moves everybody around," Bennett said Wednesday on ESPN 1000's "Carmen and Jurko Show." "So you're not just stuck in one spot. I won't be just primarily a slot guy. I'll be all over the place, and that's what I love about this offense: You never know where you're gonna be. You just have to know what's going on and understand the whole play. I think it's gonna be great for me." Now, what was that Bennett was saying last July, on the eve of training camp. From ESPN Chicago: "I feel like the top three or four receivers should come close to 1,000 yards," Bennett said. "I know Matt is going to run for 1,000 yards. I look for Jay to throw for at least 4,000 or better yards. We want to be an explosive offense, but it's just up to us to go out there and do it. We look good on paper, but it means nothing if you can't go out there on Sunday and prove it." Strikingly similar statements, aren't they? Bennett ended up with 29 catches, which as Wright points out, is 89 less than Brandon Marshall. Marshall was the only one who ended up with 1,000 yards, no one else even sniffed 500 yards. MORE: Will Bears current quarterback depth chart be good enough? Now, what was being said when Tice took over the offense? From Wright: "Just that we want to play fast," Tice explained later. "We don’t want to be out on the field and have the kids think[ing] too much. We don’t want to make it hard for the kids. We want to make sure the kids know exactly what we’re gonna do, when we’re gonna call it and why we’re gonna call it. That’s our job as coaches. We have some great athletes on offense. We have to put them in a position to show us and show the fans, and show the people that love the Bears, their athleticism and explosiveness. We want to be explosive." And last month when Trestman hit the field with the team for the first time? From Wright, again: During meetings prior to the start of practice Trestman wrote on a board that the No. 1 goal for the workout was "to practice fast." The idea, the coach added is "to try to develop how we want to practice, a tempo of practice where we could keep our players safe, keep them off the ground and make sure we can get them to the next play safely get competition between the (starters on offense against the starters on defense." Not the exact same thing but follows the same themes: practice fast, be explosive, keep the defense on their heels. The last usual offseason account is the budding bromance between QB and coach, let's dip back to 2010 for this. The

Roster notes - Larry Mayer: The Bears on Friday agreed to terms with first-round draft pick Kyle Long on a four-year contract plus an option. Sam Householder: Bears sign first round pick Long to 4-year deal Veteran O-Line coach: ‘Concerned’ over Kyle Long missing offseason programs - Tony Wise on The McNeil and Spiegel Show. Team report - Everything you wanted to know about the state of the team but were afraid to ask. Follow WCG on Twitter; like us on Facebook (& click on 'Subscribed to'). Click for Chicago Bears Tickets for next season. Check out David "OSS" Taylor's CheekyMonkeyArt prints and shirts. ---------- Bearsss Josh McCown fits the profile for NFL backup QB - Dan Pompei: There aren't many, and certainly not many available, who bring more to role than Bears' No. 2. T.J. Shouse: Will Bears current QB depth chart be good enough? NFC minicamp storylines - For the Bears, Gregg Rosenthal lists Carimi's absence, the battle for the starting MLB job, and Earl Bennett carving out a role in the offense again now that Hester's strictly a returner. NFCN Blog - Kevin Seifert: We have two offenses that have supported 88-plus receptions by a RB in previous incarnations. Could Reggie Bush or Matt Forte approach that number? Bears overtaking Packers? - Moon Mullin Ted Phillips, who has always resisted offering predictions on matters like win totals, isn’t about to declare the Green Bay mountain climbed just yet. Steven Schweickert: Have Bears closed the talent gap? What will the O-Line look like in '13? - Maggie Hendricks breaks it down. NFCN Blog - Kevin Seifert's take on Football Outsiders' assessment of the NFCN's remaining team needs. For the Bears, it's more depth at WR. Steven Schweickert: Do Bears still have a problem at Receiver? NFCN Blog - Kevin Seifert takes a look at key players for each NFCN team who are coming back from injuries: "With all the other changes in the organization this offseason, the Bears need the reliability that Robbie Gould provides." Bears doing good things - Larry Mayer: Adam Podlesh organizing benefit for young cancer patient; Bears presented with two awards for community service. ---------- Ditka Four downs with Ditka - Da Coach don't do Twitter, 'cos then Twitter itself would have to follow Da Coach. ---------- Polish sausage NFP Sunday Blitz - Dan Pompei: Schiano finally gets his man at QB; best DT duos of all time; and all the latest around the league. Know thy enemy: Packers - Mike Vandermause has an apoplectic fit at the notion that anyone could question Mike McCarthy's job status. Know thy enemy: Vikings - Jim Ragsdale: A bailout of the $977 million Vikings stadium by smokers and businesses was proposed by Gov. Mark Dayton. John Holler: Smokers getting burned again. Worst Player Offseason Power Rankings - Chris Burke found ten players who are having worse offseasons than Gabe Carimi. No squealing, remember that it's all in your head.

Dec 30, 2012; Detroit, MI, USA; Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler (6) before the game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports We’re in the dog days of the offseason and that means lots of filler content not just here but with the mainstream media as well.  Filler content means a lot of meaningless lists and rankings just to try to spur some debate and discussion.  The latest list of quarterback rankings  that I saw from Will Brinson at CBS Sports really kicked up a burr under my saddle. Brinson ranks NFL quarterbacks and puts Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler 19th on his list, meaning he thinks there are 18 quarterbacks better than Cutler.  I think that ranking is absolutely ridiculous.  Let’s look at the list and see where he went astray.  (more…)

Even after the draft and free agency, it's still fun to poke at the team and see if there's still anything that needs to be addressed. And Football Outsiders put together their division by division outlooks looking at each team's remaining biggest need. You need an ESPN Insider subscription to read the whole piece, but the NFC North blogger Kevin Seifert pulled out some snippets from the piece and under the Bears they wrote: Football Outsiders' issue: Receiver Football Outsiders comment: "When we pointed to wide receiver as a major flaw for the current Bears early in the offseason, it was to the consternation of a lot of Bears fans who saw the offensive line as the larger issue. The problem is that Jay Cutler is a see-it, throw-it passer. He's still a solid quarterback, but he's never thrown receivers open on a consistent basis. That amplifies the Bears' receiving problems, and while scheming can create the occasional big play for Devin Hester, Eric Weems, or Earl Bennett, they can't defeat man coverage often enough to benefit Cutler." Seifert followed up by saying he doesn't agree with that classification of Cutler (that he's a "see-it, throw-it" passer), but that there still isn't much behind Brandon Marshall, Alshon Jeffery or Bennett, so on that level he agrees with FO's assessment. If we hop in the DeLorean (or simply use Google or the FO homepage), we get to the article they wrote prior to free agency and the draft, at the end of February about each team's biggest needs. And about the Bears, they wrote: Biggest hole: Wide receiver and tight endRemember when the Bears traded for Brandon Marshall? That was a fairly adept move by new Bears GM Phil Emery, because if Marshall hadn't been around last season, Jay Cutler might not have completed a pass. Marshall absorbed 192 targets, third-most in the league behind Calvin Johnson and Reggie Wayne, and he had to do this because the Bears had no other receivers who could beat man coverage. While part of that falls on the diminishing returns of year five of the Devin Hester ExperimentTM, as well as the general lack of receiving depth Chicago had while waiting for Alshon Jeffery to develop, another big factor was the trade of Greg Olsen to the Panthers back in 2011 by predecessor Jerry Angelo. Without a reliable tight end to serve as an underneath threat, Cutler was forced to spend a lot more of last season scrambling while waiting for his targets to get open.Kellen Davis had a truly magical season, dropping seven passes on just 44 targets, and finishing with a -26.6% DVOA rating that placed him 46th out of 49 qualifying tight ends. Secondary tight end Matt Spaeth, primarily a blocker, caught the ball about as well as you'd expect a blocking tight end to, accumulating a -34.6% DVOA on the 10 passes thrown his way. The Bears often had no choice but to use both of their tight ends as blockers rather than waste their time trying to throw to them. So the Bears had what can only be considered a sucking black hole at receiving tight end (two sucking black holes, actually), and that sucking black hole contributed to Cutler having to sit around (or run around) the pocket and heave the ball to Marshall because no one else could beat man coverage quickly enough. I like Martellus Bennett as much as the next guy, but he's still only one receiving tight end. But if they're worrying about not having another receiver that can beat man coverage... Are they calling for a fourth wide receiver to be the team's biggest need? And don't they have a guy that can beat man coverage in Jeffery as he develops? If the Bears' biggest need is still a receiver, then they're in a very good place. What are your thoughts on FO's post-draft commentary?

Troubled former Detroit Lions wide receiver Titus Young knows he has a mental illness, according to a former teammate.

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick called out critics who say he holds on to the ball for too long before he makes throws.

We dissect the current competition for Chicago’s second and third tight end spots, a positional battle that features players of varying skill sets.