There are currently two central issues dominating all Bears talk in newspapers, on the internet, on radio, on barstools, anywhere, everywhere.
The first is the competition between Rex Grossman and Brian Griese for the starting quarterback position. Or rather, the big question is whether or not Griese's much superior preseason effort should land him ahead of the struggling Grossman on the depth chart.
Hey, I don't care who starts. I don't give two shits. I don't even give one shit. I'm just (sort of) comfortable with the belief that the Bears actually have two quarterbacks who are pseudo-competent. Normally, the Bears trot out dudes who would be lucky to have a backup job in Canada. So all I want is for either Grossman or Griese to start and play well. That's all. I'm not greedy. I don't care which it is, nor am I going to pretend to know which one is better suited for the job in Week One. As far as I can tell, Grossman has always played decent when he's managed to avoid injury and stay on the field. His ability has never been the problem. He's looked almost productive and competent in his brief appearances. All signs have been encouraging. Meanwhile, Griese, while never spectacular, has always been a steady quarterback. He has never been a guy who will light it up, but he knows how to manage a team without killing it. This is more than most Bears quarterbacks can manage, and as Kyle Orton showed last year, enough to win with such a dominating Bears defense doing its thing. (Knock on wood.)
So one starts and one sits. I don't care who is who. Personally, I'd start Grossman. After all, he was a first round pick, right? All the Bears have been waiting for is for him to stay healthy, right? And so far this preseason Grossman has stayed healthy. (Knock on wood.) So give the dude a chance and let's see what he's got once and for all.
If Griese needs to play at some point, so be it.
The other central source of drama is the competition between Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson for the starting running back position. I use the term 'competition' loosely because, you know, NEITHER CAN STAY HEALTHY ENOUGH TO REMAIN IN CAMP!
I'll be honest. The daily stories of these two are driving me bonkers. It's all grown so very pathetic and maddening. Both players are going back and forth with sorry comments about how they should be the starter and he said this and he said that and Lovie said this and injury that and blah, blah, blah. Meanwhile, both watch from the sidelines. Let's review:
- Jones bitched all of this summer about his contract and skipped early workouts. He then injured himself during his physical. Yes, his freakin' physical. (It should also be noted that while Jones had a productive season in 2005, he was largely considered a bust before that. With two teams. Just sayin'.)
- Benson bitched about his contract for the entire summer of 2005. He missed all of his rookie training camp in a contract dispute. When finally given opportunities in midseason, he promptly sprained a knee and wasn't heard from again. This summer, he was named the starter and promptly injured his shoulder, once again missing much of training camp.
So in other words, both Jones and Benson stalk the sidelines while yap, yap, yapping about how they should be the starter. How aggravating is this? How annoying have these two become? Until both are 100%, I don't want to hear about it. Sure, I realize Jones and Benson are continually being asked questions on the subject by reporters looking for a story, so it's not entirely their fault. That said, both seem a little too willing to keep the fire burning with thinly-veiled comments in the other's direction. And both have proven more than willing to bitch and moan about a contract only to limp off to the sideline when it was time to get down to business.
It's getting old.
