Bears Blitz

Josh McCown: Bears Make Smart Move Signing Former Chicago QB

Published by Patrick Clarke on November 14, 2012
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears made a smart decision on Tuesday to re-sign their former quarterback, Josh McCown, in the wake of Jay Cutler‘s concussion in Week 10 vs. the Houston Texans.

According to the Chicago Tribune‘s Vaughn McClure, the Bears re-signed the veteran passer this week to back up second-string quarterback Jason Campbell on Monday night vs. the San Francisco 49ers.

Although McCown is no Jay Cutler, or even Jason Campbell, he’s an established NFL veteran and someone who understands Chicago’s system. He took part in training camp and played for the team in all four of its preseason games before being cut.

Considering Chicago’s only other option behind Campbell prior to this signing was practice squad quarterback Matt Blanchard, according to McClure, no one is better suited than McCown to be thrown directly into the fire

The 33-year-old McCown has played for four NFL teams since entering the league in 2002. Most recently, he made a stop in the Windy City in 2011, playing in three games for the Bears following a season-ending injury to Cutler. In his two starts in Week 16 and Week 17 last year, Chicago went 1-1, losing at Green Bay and winning at Minnesota.

In the team’s final preseason game against the Cleveland Browns last August, McCown completed 20 of 29 passes for 157 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He also carried the ball eight times for 16 yards.

Even if McCown isn’t anything more than a serviceable signal-caller, at least the Bears have picked up a high-character player with the right attitude.

Here’s McCown on his recent signing with Chicago (per ChicagoBears.com’s Larry Mayer):

This is like deja vu all over again. I’m very excited and I’m very thankful to have another opportunity to come back and have the chance to be around these guys. I’m really glad to be here. I have so much respect and love for this organization.

It certainly helps to have an experienced backup at quarterback to take on the road in November, especially with the Bears set to take on a dominant Top-Five defense in San Francisco.

It’s a shame that Chicago isn’t fortunate enough to have Jay Cutler under center in arguably their biggest game of the regular season, but the Bears should be considered both smart and lucky to have a positive veteran like McCown providing input and insurance on the sideline.

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