With competent quarterback play, the Chicago Bears could have beaten the Indianapolis Colts and won the Super Bowl four months ago. But the Bears didn't have a competent quarterback. They had Rex Grossman.
It's a testament to the talent on the rest of the roster (and to the lack of talent in the rest of the NFC) that the Bears even got to the Super Bowl with Grossman under center. And it's surprising how little talk there is in Chicago about the Bears replacing Grossman. The Bears have made no effort to trade for a veteran quarterback, sign a free agent, or draft a potential successor to Grossman, and all the signals out of Chicago suggest that the coaching staff has complete confidence in Grossman and no interest in replacing him with backups Brian Griese or Kyle Orton.
The latest signal comes from the Bears' official web site, where senior writer Larry Mayer gives this answer to a fan question about Grossman's work in minicamp:
"Rex Grossman has looked very sharp the past few weeks in OTA practices," Mayer writes. "I thought Tuesday was one of his best days. He threw the ball with accuracy and authority and made good decisions. He especially impressed me in leading the offense to a touchdown against the first-team defense in a two-minute drill." The team's official web site isn't the best place to go for a candid assessment of Grossman's performance. But it is the best place to go to find out what the team wants its fans to think of Grossman. And when the team is telling the fans how sharp Grossman looks, that means the fans had better be ready for another year with Grossman at the helm. Maybe this year he'll actually look sharp when he's facing a real, live pass rush, but Bears fans shouldn't hold their breath.
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06-13-2007, 01:19 PM
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