Brown making up ground on Anderson
Everything is open for scrutiny during the bye week, even starting jobs, Lovie Smith said.
While he didn't hint any moves were coming, the evaluation process of everything from schemes to personnel is ongoing, and one player who ought to come out of the loss to the Detroit Lions in decent shape is backup defensive end Alex Brown.
The veteran turned in one of his better games of the season in recording a season-high eight tackles to go with his second sack in the last three games. Opponents had been running roughshod over Mark Anderson, who essentially was given the job in the spring over Brown, who had started for four straight seasons. It appeared that Brown's playing time was up slightly, and that could be a sign of things to come.
''I know a lot of people are going to say it's Detroit,'' Brown said after the game. ''But they're a good team, they've played well enough to beat us twice. We're going to have to start saying it's not the old Detroit, I guess, or we're just not the Bears that we were last year or have been the past couple years or something, I don't know.''
Tackling the issue
Brian Urlacher's four-tackle performance turned into a nine-tackle day after the coaches reviewed the game film. The middle linebacker had been credited with four by press-box statistics. Lance Briggs came away with a game-high 14, pushing him two ahead of Urlacher for the season, 78-76.
Rookie cornerback Trumaine McBride had eight tackles, as did fellow corners Ricky Manning Jr. and Charles Tillman.
Extra points
Tillman could be fined by the league for his tackle of Lions receiver Calvin Johnson on an end around in the second quarter. He brought the 6-5 Calvin Johnson down from behind, and it could be deemed a horse-collar tackle. No penalty was called on the play, but the league reviews every play.
• • Defensive tackle Darwin Walker returned Sunday after missing two games with a sprained left knee but was used sparingly with Anthony Adams remaining in the starting lineup.
• • Lions kicker Jason Hanson was wide right on a 29-yard field goal, just the second kick inside 30 yards he has missed in 13 seasons.
See more at www.suntimes.com
|
