Sun-Times: Is it all in Rex's head?

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Is it all in Rex's head?
All the poking and prodding of Grossman's ability -- both physical and mental -- might have created a case of the yips that's holding him back

September 21, 2007
BY GREG COUCH Sun-Times Columnist

If you're having trouble following the Bears' latest diagnosis on Rex Grossman, I think I've got it. He's a gunslinger-type of quarterback by nature, very aggressive, but the Bears have been pulling him back to keep him from making too many mistakes.

What he really needs is to fire away more. Except when he needs to stay reserved.

Got it?

''We're trying hard as coaches not to take away that aggressiveness,'' Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner said. ''But there is a time to be aggressive and a time not to be.''

So the new plan for Grossman Sunday against Dallas is to stop being so reserved, but instead to be much more aggressive. Except when it's time to be reserved.

No wonder this guy is a mental midget.

This is a big game for Grossman, even though it's just Week 3. It's Sunday night, on the big stage. Dallas and the Bears are early favorites to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.

Grossman needs to show that he can play well in a game like this. The problem is, we know he can. We also know he might stink up the place. And we don't know how to tell which one is coming.

Coach Lovie Smith is no longer intoning ''Rex is our quarterback,'' any time anyone doubts Grossman. And that might mean this is now-or-never for Grossman, but I don't think we're that far yet. It's just a move on Smith's part to put a little competitive pressure on the guy.

Smith did that once last year, allowing backup Brian Griese to split reps with Grossman in practice. Then, Grossman had a Good Rex game against St. Louis.

The Cowboys' defense isn't much, really. And it's time now to work Devin Hester's speed into the offense, and maybe first-round pick Greg Olsen, too. This is the chance for Grossman to let it fly.

And that's what the Bears have to do to snap him out of this, if that's possible at all.

Grossman can still zing the ball, which requires much less thought. (See: mental midget remark earlier.)

It could be a mental block
But I think Grossman's problem might be much more advanced than people have talked about. We've watched him botch the simplest things, like taking a snap. On his first interception last week, he just floated and wobbled the shortest and easiest of passes, and it gave a very familiar sick feeling it the stomach.

In golf, they call it the yips. In baseball, we saw Rick Ankiel get it as a pitcher, and Chuck Knoblauch in the infield. Remember? He'd field a grounder easily, turn to first base and almost not remember how to throw at all? He'd shot-put it over there, or throw into the stands.

It's a mental block, and it scares all athletes, because they've seen it before and don't know how to fight it off. So they don't even like to talk about it.

I'm just wondering here. But it seems strange the way Grossman botches the basics. It's not a lack of talent. Early-stage yips?

Sports are supposed to be fluid and effortless-looking. At some point, Grossman was surely like that.

But we've picked away at every little thing he has done, his footwork, the way he takes the snap, his weight balance. It's all been prodded so completely.

It's no wonder he would have the yips.

Ex-Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera, now a San Diego coach, said he never called Grossman a mental midget, as one of his players claimed. Rivera said his point was only that you can rattle Grossman, get in his head.

Is there a difference? It all comes back to Grossman's head.

No one has ever taken criticism as well as Grossman, not when it has been heaped on in such doses. But Grossman was awful in the Super Bowl, and after the game I thought he'd never be able to play well in Chicago again.

He has skills, but he had cracked just before the big game. And the pressure and scrutiny were only going to double this year, from fans, media, teammates.

So far, it has gone to script.

Griese may not be an upgrade
But it would be too early to give up on him after this game, unless the yips settle in fully. Why? It would mean turning to Brian Griese.

In the past, Griese had been known as a terrible leader, a terrible teammate. He could never come through in the big moment. He supposedly has matured since then, though a better term might be that he has ''aged.''

For years, Griese drove Denver fans as crazy as Grossman is driving Chicago.

Wasn't Byron Leftwich available a few days ago?

Did you hear what Grossman said Wednesday about why he fell apart in the second half against Kansas City? He said that plays weren't opening up for him, so he started ''pressing to try to still make sure you're conservative and still making plays.

''That combination may have misguided some of my reads, and just trying not to make a mistake.''

Huh? He was pressing to stay conservative, which forced him to make mistakes?

Look, it's time to call some plays that allow Grossman to let passes fly. The more tentative the game plan, the more thinking he does.

It's time to find a way to get out of Grossman's head.


http://www.suntimes.com/sports/couch/568339,CST-SPT-greg21.article
 
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