Orton Gets the Nod for Preseason Opener
by Sam Householder on Aug 6, 2008 1:53 AM CDT
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PrintNot that we'll read into it or anything, but Orton will start vs. Kansas City on Thursday. Lovie and crew beg you not to read into it too much and stress that Rex will get the same number of snaps with the first team as Orton and it will roll that way the first two games. Grossman will start preseason game 2 next week.
But the Bears coach, determined to keep a level playing field in the competition for the No. 1 quarterback position, stressed that Rex Grossman will play an equal number of snaps in relief, all with the first-team offense in the first half.
“It’s not because one guy played a little bit better than the other,” said the Bears coach. “This is how we’re going to start it. It really doesn’t matter who starts because both guys will play the same amount of plays the first game as they will the second game, and we’ll go from there. Then we’ll have a better reading. After each week, the depth chart will mean a little bit more. But right now we haven’t seen enough to know really where we are.”
And believe it or not, it wasn't determined by a coin flip.
Offensive coordinator Ron Turner didn’t flip a coin to determine who would be first to lead the No. 1 unit as he did at the beginning of the offseason program and again at the outset of training camp. “We really didn’t want to do that again, and it wasn’t rock, paper, scissors,” Turner said with a smile. “It’s just Kyle is going with the first group to start this game and Rex is next. I wouldn’t read anything into that, and we told them that. It has nothing to do with performance.”
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Hmm
Maybe they feel like they can take some pressure off Rex or something. In the end though, it doesn’t really matter at all who starts which games. This is the preseason, and they’ll both probably get to play a good amount each game.
Too bad that can't let Dave Toub and Ron Turner compete for Offensive Coordinator.
I'm not going to even bother trying to update this sig everyday anymore... that's what the standings column on ESPN is for.
Updated on May 25, 2008
Toub gets the first series.
Turner gets the second series…. rinse, wash, repeat.
I'm not going to even bother trying to update this sig everyday anymore... that's what the standings column on ESPN is for.
Updated on May 25, 2008
Doesn't matter
This really doesn’t matter.
Now… if the Bears said, “Orton has played better so he is starting,” that would be different.
Instead we are hearing “Orton starts this game, and Rex will start the next game.”
Its meaningless.
visit the mindful mission
Is this going to stretch the first team offense out longer than it would otherwise?
Because if so, its seems a bit careless to unnecessarily risk the other starters’ health just so that the coaches can justify / prove the fairness of their quarterback competition. If my memory serves me correctly, we ended up having a number of bad 2007 preseason injuries (which certainly didn’t help out the season) when Lovie decided to emphasize the importance of preseason reps over the players’ health… While that may have been under a little bit different circumstances, I’m really hoping they’ve learned from that and are more willing to protect their better players and save them for the games that matter.
Plus, if they’re willing to limit the first team offense to the league norm, that’ll likely give us a chance to see more of what Hanie can do in the first two games. If the guy shows any visible promise whatsoever, it’d probably be a huge boost to everybody’s opinion of the organization’s decision(s) (at their respective points in time) to not pick any of the quarterbacks that were available in this year’s draft and instead wait for undrafted free agency. A confidence booster like that could go a long way, at least for me, after watching sixth-rounder Colt Brennan display - in his first NFL outing - the necessary touch and accuracy fourth-rounder Orton so frustratingly lacks, at least to date, in the HOF game last week. Sure the game was meaningless and he was playing against backups, etc. etc., but I’m just saying, the first glance seemed to suggest the guy stands a good chance of sticking around the league for awhile after being passed up by so many teams in the draft…
This may be off-topic, but Other than Nick Hill getting cut, have we gotten any indication yet from the coaches / management as to whether they’d consider keeping Hanie on the roster if they’re able to get Simms / somebody else on the cheap in the fallout of the Favre situation? I know a lot of people on this board feel differently about Simms, but if he’s cheap, I would readily welcome the opportunity to see what he can do / become in a Bear’s uniform.
Normally I would agree with you
But, since the Bears have no clue who their starters are… across the board on offense… the normal logic just doesn’t apply. Let’s face it: they’re a mess.
I'm not going to even bother trying to update this sig everyday anymore... that's what the standings column on ESPN is for.
Updated on May 25, 2008
At this point
I don’t care about Grossman or Orton. Caleb Hanie, Bears future QB FTL.
I am like your Dan Aykroyd and biglow would be Jane, the ignorant slut. -Chad
Grossman would have been one of the best QBs ever if Ron Zook had not been his coach.
He teaches quarterbacks that they can fit a football into a hole the size of a baseball. He did the same thing to Chris Leak, or started to before Urban Meyer came in and returned Leak to the QB that he was. Zook also had stupid plays that involved the quarterback becoming a receiver of a pass from a runningback or from a wide receiver on a reverse. Grossman would have won the Heisman as a redshirt freshman, not Couch. Zook then ruined his career. Don’t look for Juice at Illinois to excel in the pros.
Way to go. Blame someone other than Grossman for his performance.
Would love to hear you call up Boers and Bernstein with this one.
I'm not going to even bother trying to update this sig everyday anymore... that's what the standings column on ESPN is for.
Updated on May 25, 2008
pretty sure...
... he is talking about Boers and Bernstein
visit the mindful mission
by big_lowitzki on Aug 8, 2008 11:03 AM CDT up reply actions
Ask anybody at Alligator Army.
They will tell you the same thing. Leak was the top QB recruit out of high school his senior year.
So was Ryan Perrilloux.
Where’s he playing again? Jacksonville State? I tell you what….that’s gonna be the next Ohio State.
I'M A MAN! I'M 22!
He's not playing
at J-State because he sucks, he’s playing there because he’s a dumbass.
I am like your Dan Aykroyd and biglow would be Jane, the ignorant slut. -Chad
Exactly my point
Being the top QB recruit in your senior year of high school doesn’t mean anything. Chris Leak was, and he’s not in football now. Ryan Perrilloux was, and now he’s at a horrible school “getting it together” because he couldn’t crack it mentally AT LSU.
I'M A MAN! I'M 22!
What the hell does Ron Zook have anything to do with Grossman and Leak's development?
Zook was a DB in his playing days, who became a defensive backs coach, turned defensive coordinator… turned head coach. He doesn’t coach QBs. Never has coached QBs, and likely never will coach QBs.
He has absolutely NOTHING to do with the development of the QBs on his rosters. Your lame theory is exactly that: lame.
I'm not going to even bother trying to update this sig everyday anymore... that's what the standings column on ESPN is for.
Updated on May 25, 2008
Easy
They don’t want Rex to here the boos at home. He will start the second game. We’ve been through this before.
hit him in his earhole
And yet no one's mentioned this
It does check out the most. Grossman was booed on Family Night at Solider Field, so they’d boo him in the opener too, not that they won’t even if he is relief.
I also want to know, while a lot of teams carry 4 or even 5 QBs in the preseason so that for the first exhibition games they can pull the starters right quick how are the Bears planning to run this tomorrow? Orton and Grossman the whole first half (which seems a tad risky) or just them for 1 quarter and then Henie the last 3 which seems like a lot of time with 2nd and third team guys for a rookie. Whatever, this team is a mess aren’t they…
Bold Prediction: Orton will be the starter in week 1.
by Sam Householder on Aug 6, 2008 11:39 PM CDT up reply actions
ite been mentioned
before, practically a whole diary about it on the right.
From memory....
most teams only carry 4 or 5 QBs prior to Training Camp, and in the VERY early Training Camp when there are a lot more bodies around prior to first cuts. That’s simply because they need arms to run separate drills.
Once the pre-season games start: most teams are down to 3 QBs, with the exception of Gruden.
Let Henie run the whole second half with the scrubs, so he can take the beating behind our pathetic 2nd string line… instead of Rex or Kyle.
And don’t get your hopes up for Henie. He’s just the flavor of the year. Even if he were any good… the next Tony Romo… he would’ve be successful on this team, because we don’t know how to develop QBs.
I'm not going to even bother trying to update this sig everyday anymore... that's what the standings column on ESPN is for.
Updated on May 25, 2008
that should read "wouldn't be successful"
I'm not going to even bother trying to update this sig everyday anymore... that's what the standings column on ESPN is for.
Updated on May 25, 2008
Can't be too sure
Big_Low- You never know with the way NFL coaches interact with the media. All coy and deceptive in nature. I hope Orton is taking the necessary steps to really take this job from Rex. I believe his game is much better suited with the type of game the Bears play. A tough, opportunistic defense, great special teams, and an improved running game are better to pair with a more conservative QB.
"I'm not so mean. I wouldn't ever go out to hurt anybody deliberately - unless it was, you know, important, like a league game or something." - Dick Butkus
huh?
Big_Low- You never know with the way NFL coaches interact with the media.
What does that have to do with anything.
There is no way that the coaches would say that Rex is starting the second game if Orton has “won” the job.
It is pretty clear – both are getting the opportunity to start a pre-season game, and then the Bears are going to go from there.
And Orton may be a “more conservative QB,” but he has more turnovers per game than Grossman does.
And try using the reply button… it works well.
visit the mindful mission
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