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Next up for Bears ... Hutchinson
By Bob LeGere Daily Herald Sports Writer
Posted Saturday, November 27, 2004
Finally, at long last, Bears coach Lovie Smith appears ready to give quarterback Chad Hutchinson a chance to revive an offense on life support.
For whatever reason, Smith was vague about a choice that seems obvious, since the Bears' passing attack has degenerated into the league's worst and was subject to ridicule on a nationally televised Thanksgiving Day loss to the Cowboys.
"We have options," Smith said Friday. "At quarterback you have to say that Chad is an option of ours. We have three quarterbacks; two have played, so there's an option. On our offensive line, we have guys that haven't played. So we have options. You can say that at about every position. If a guy hasn't played, he's an option for us now."
It took eight weeks of wheezing and gasping, 37 sacks, more incompletions than completions and an injury, but the Bears have no other logical choice than to go with Hutchinson.
"We have an idea right now what direction we're going to go," Smith said, "but Monday we would like to have him in place and kind of go from there."
The Bears have some extra time to make the conversion to Hutchinson before their Dec. 5 game against the Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field.
Rookie Craig Krenzel, who started the last five games, will not be an option. He was at Halas Hall on Friday, wearing a plastic foot cast to immobilize his sprained ankle, and he may not be available for several weeks.
Krenzel said he had undergone an MRI but didn't yet know the results. X-rays taken Thursday failed to show any fractures.
The long week would give Hutchinson enough preparation time to face the Vikings, who enter Sunday's game against the Jaguars with a defense ranked 26th in points and yards allowed.
"Well, in case we did go with Chad, sure, nine days would (be enough)," Smith said. "That's better than a normal week, so you have to go with that. He's been around awhile, so for any position that should be plenty of time to get ready."
Krenzel, a fifth-round draft pick, was never supposed to step on the field during a game this season, according to the Bears' master plan. Ideally, Krenzel was to serve an apprenticeship watching and learning from starter Rex Grossman and veteran backup Jonathan Quinn.
But Grossman's season-ending knee injury in Week 3 and Quinn's ineffectiveness necessitated fast-tracking the rookie's development.
But Krenzel struggled with accuracy, completing an inadequate 46.5 percent of his passes. He also was sacked 23 times in 16 quarters of play, once every 5 pass attempts. He also lost 6 fumbles.
Through all the rookie's travails, the coaching staff resisted reinstating Quinn, and the reason was obvious again Thursday, when he compiled a Henry Burris-like 19.3 passer rating against the Cowboys. Quinn completed 10 of 21 passes for 86 yards, was sacked four times for minus-35 yards, threw a pair of interceptions and fumbled twice.
The only realistic option remaining is Hutchinson, who has spent two months learning the playbook but almost no time practicing with the first team.
That should change starting Monday, when Hutchinson is expected to get almost every snap with the first team.
The 6-foot-5, 237-pound Hutchinson was a pitcher in the St. Louis Cardinals' system for four years and is the only major-league starting pitcher to start a game at quarterback in the NFL.
He brings more athleticism to the position than Krenzel and Quinn.
"I would say his physical skills are good," Smith said. "He's a fastball thrower and all that good stuff. He can throw the ball. He's got good size, so I think physically he definitely has enough ability to do it, but there's some other things that come into play too."
Hutchinson, who started nine games in 2002, was out of football after being released by the Cowboys just before training camp this year.
The Bears signed him Sept. 28, the same day Grossman was placed on injured reserve.
Smith said two months is enough time to learn the playbook, although it's not ideal.
"Would more time be better?" Smith said. "Yes, but that's the situation we're in. More would be better, but still he's a quick learner like all of our quarterbacks. As we went with Craig Krenzel, Jonathan Quinn - anytime you go with a guy that hasn't played a lot, you can say, 'Hey, I would like to give him more time.' And I still say (that), if we go that way, (but) we haven't really said that's the way we're going."
On Monday, how can he say anything else?
By Bob LeGere Daily Herald Sports Writer
Posted Saturday, November 27, 2004
Finally, at long last, Bears coach Lovie Smith appears ready to give quarterback Chad Hutchinson a chance to revive an offense on life support.
For whatever reason, Smith was vague about a choice that seems obvious, since the Bears' passing attack has degenerated into the league's worst and was subject to ridicule on a nationally televised Thanksgiving Day loss to the Cowboys.
"We have options," Smith said Friday. "At quarterback you have to say that Chad is an option of ours. We have three quarterbacks; two have played, so there's an option. On our offensive line, we have guys that haven't played. So we have options. You can say that at about every position. If a guy hasn't played, he's an option for us now."
It took eight weeks of wheezing and gasping, 37 sacks, more incompletions than completions and an injury, but the Bears have no other logical choice than to go with Hutchinson.
"We have an idea right now what direction we're going to go," Smith said, "but Monday we would like to have him in place and kind of go from there."
The Bears have some extra time to make the conversion to Hutchinson before their Dec. 5 game against the Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field.
Rookie Craig Krenzel, who started the last five games, will not be an option. He was at Halas Hall on Friday, wearing a plastic foot cast to immobilize his sprained ankle, and he may not be available for several weeks.
Krenzel said he had undergone an MRI but didn't yet know the results. X-rays taken Thursday failed to show any fractures.
The long week would give Hutchinson enough preparation time to face the Vikings, who enter Sunday's game against the Jaguars with a defense ranked 26th in points and yards allowed.
"Well, in case we did go with Chad, sure, nine days would (be enough)," Smith said. "That's better than a normal week, so you have to go with that. He's been around awhile, so for any position that should be plenty of time to get ready."
Krenzel, a fifth-round draft pick, was never supposed to step on the field during a game this season, according to the Bears' master plan. Ideally, Krenzel was to serve an apprenticeship watching and learning from starter Rex Grossman and veteran backup Jonathan Quinn.
But Grossman's season-ending knee injury in Week 3 and Quinn's ineffectiveness necessitated fast-tracking the rookie's development.
But Krenzel struggled with accuracy, completing an inadequate 46.5 percent of his passes. He also was sacked 23 times in 16 quarters of play, once every 5 pass attempts. He also lost 6 fumbles.
Through all the rookie's travails, the coaching staff resisted reinstating Quinn, and the reason was obvious again Thursday, when he compiled a Henry Burris-like 19.3 passer rating against the Cowboys. Quinn completed 10 of 21 passes for 86 yards, was sacked four times for minus-35 yards, threw a pair of interceptions and fumbled twice.
The only realistic option remaining is Hutchinson, who has spent two months learning the playbook but almost no time practicing with the first team.
That should change starting Monday, when Hutchinson is expected to get almost every snap with the first team.
The 6-foot-5, 237-pound Hutchinson was a pitcher in the St. Louis Cardinals' system for four years and is the only major-league starting pitcher to start a game at quarterback in the NFL.
He brings more athleticism to the position than Krenzel and Quinn.
"I would say his physical skills are good," Smith said. "He's a fastball thrower and all that good stuff. He can throw the ball. He's got good size, so I think physically he definitely has enough ability to do it, but there's some other things that come into play too."
Hutchinson, who started nine games in 2002, was out of football after being released by the Cowboys just before training camp this year.
The Bears signed him Sept. 28, the same day Grossman was placed on injured reserve.
Smith said two months is enough time to learn the playbook, although it's not ideal.
"Would more time be better?" Smith said. "Yes, but that's the situation we're in. More would be better, but still he's a quick learner like all of our quarterbacks. As we went with Craig Krenzel, Jonathan Quinn - anytime you go with a guy that hasn't played a lot, you can say, 'Hey, I would like to give him more time.' And I still say (that), if we go that way, (but) we haven't really said that's the way we're going."
On Monday, how can he say anything else?
