Bears Won't Get Off The Bus Running This Year?
Any Q&A session with Lovie Smith has a very similar routine. Usually before he answers questions, there's a preamble of what he thinks is important. It's Lovie's way of trying to steer the conversation into a positive direction. His session to open the 2010 Bourbonnais experience (which I lovingly refer to as: "Lovie Smith's State of the Union Address"), followed this pattern, but also offered some frankness and clarity of mission.
"The Chicago Bears have the same goal every year. We want to win the Superbowl." Smith said.
That type of talk around all NFL camps this time of year is expected. You could insert just about every team in the league into that quote. Sorry Oakland and Cleveland...
The satisfying part of the Q&A was that Smith cut down some of the pandering rhetoric that Bears fans have come accustomed to over the last few years. When it comes to the offense, Smith has said in the past, "We get of the bus running the football." This is supposed to endear the Bears Head Coach, to old-school fans who cheer for a type of style that is long gone from the game. On Thursday, Smith, seemed more forward-thinking when it came to discussing the philosophy of his offense this year.
" (I) Feel like on the offensive side of the football, we're going to move the football. It's about scoring and we feel like we have the guys in place to do that." Smith said.
Refreshing. Smith continued to talk first about his Quarterback, Jay Cutler, and the rest of the weapons in the passing game. Gone was the lip service to "Bear Weather".
Smith has put the offense in the hands of a man that he trusts, Mike Martz. Smith was beaming about the teaching job that Martz has already done.
"I'm very confident...a lot has been said about our offense and are you going to be able to get it before the season? Our guys have picked up the offense well. Jay Cutler has good command of it."
The Bears still have to find the right combination for the offensive line to prove that, but for Smith, Thursday was a quantum leap in discussing offense.
NUGGET: In the 16 minutes that we talked with Lovie Smith, there wasn't a direct question about Brian Urlacher. From all accounts, #54 has no limitations in camp. It was just strange that for the better part of a decade, Urlacher has usually been the main focus of the first few days of camp. On Thursday he was barely an afterthought.
TIDBIT: This year's media guide (at least my copy) was in black & white. Are the Bears trying to save money, by not printing it in color?
