Chicago Bears Training Camp News: Tuesday Update
Published by Bryan Dietzler on August 17, 2010
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears returned to the practice field after having Sunday off to rest and recover from the game Saturday night and some of the news coming out the game wasn’t that good or that bad. The following is a look at how the Bears training camp has gone since coming back from their game against the Chargers and how their injury situation looks following the game.
Game End Notes
There were a couple of interesting tidbits not really mentioned in some of the media outlets in regards to the game.
You might as well consider Greg Matthews a guy who will be on his way out of Chicago. Matthews dropped several passes the other night and didn’t do much for the Bears. Considering that there is a glut of talent at the position, the Bears could probably let him go and use his spot to bring in another quarterback or a safety.
Quarterback Jay Cutler had eight snaps during the game the other night but the coaching staff says that he will get many more in the games to follow. They wished to play it safe during their first “live” action of the season and not risk Cutler getting injured. He was sacked once however causing Bears fans to hold their collective breath but he popped back up and looked just fine. Can that happen to him 50 times a season and will he keep popping up like that? Let’s hope that we don’t have to find out.
Injury Update
The Bears suffered several injuries during their game on Saturday night and probably the two most noticeable injuries happened to quarterback Caleb Hanie and safety Major Wright.
Hanie suffered a shoulder injury after he was sacked and didn’t return to the game. He had an MRI on the shoulder and the tests have come back negative. There is no indication how long he might be out at this time but he will be out of Saturday’s game for sure.
The Bears have been pretty quiet about the injury that Wright suffered to his finger. As far as it is known, he injured his index finger and will have surgery today to fix the finger. The coaching staff says that he will be ready to go for the regular season but may not play any additional snaps in the preseason.
Safety Craig Steltz injured his ankle on Saturday night and has been ruled out for the Bears preseason home opener against the Oakland Raiders this Saturday night.
Tight end Brandon Manumaleuna practiced for the first time in a while after hurting his knee. The Bears will be glad to have him back as he will be a welcome addition to the offensive line as a blocker.
Defensive lineman Jarron Gilbert sat out practice as did wide receiver Johnny Knox (hamstring) and linebackers Matt Mayberry (unknown illness) and Hunter Hillenmeyer (ankle).
On Safari for a Quarterback
With Hanie out for an extended period of time, the Bears only have two quarterbacks available for the preseason (Jay Cutler and Dan LeFevour). They are currently in the market for another quarterback and have reached out to former St. Louis Rams quarterback Trent Green (who promptly said no) and journeymen quarterback Todd Collins who has turned the Bears down over money (around $150,000). What will the Bears do?
Something has to be done quickly because the Bears need that extra body in camp. Look for them to aggressively pursue a quarterback including free agents or they could trade a player or draft pick to grab one. They cannot go through the rest of the preseason with just Cutler and LeFevour at quarterback.
More Playing Time?
We didn’t get to see much of Cutler and defensive end Julius Peppers in the Bear’s first game but the coaching staff promises that we will see much more of them in the next two preseason games. It will be much easier to evaluate the team if the first string plays a little bit longer (than they did this past Saturday).
Back to Camping
The Bears held a practice on Monday and not much happened during the practice. A lot of the attention by both fans and media was drawn to seeing who would actually practice and who was sitting out or missing. Why? Because the Bears hadn’t given enough information as to who was hurt and what their condition was.
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