Dan Pompei of the Chicago Tribune summarized perfectly the arrival of QB Jay Cutler: “Thousands of fans turned out at Olivet Nazarene and cheered wildly when Jay Cutler ran onto a training camp field for the first time as a Chicago Bear. Of course, they might have cheered wildly if Cutler had scratched under his armpit.”
After a disappointing season in 2009, Bears WR/PR Devin Hester hopes to have a big year: “God blessed me with max ability to go out and do the things that I’m
capable of doing, and I want to go out and excel as the receiver and
the punt returner this year.”
DT Marcus Harrison is on the NFI list after showing up 14 pounds overweight, at 323.
With CB Charles Tillman out following back surgery, Zackary Bowman has been playing with the first team.
Lions coach Jim Schwartz explained his personality with an interesting analogy: “I’m the guy that when they go to the amusement park, I want to get on
all the rides right away. I’m not going to take my time and meander
around the park and maybe hit all those rides. I’m running from ride to
ride to do it. That’s just my personality.” [Editor's note: His current ride is called "Pirates of the Crappibbean."]
Schwartz has made a specific effort to show the players that things are different in 2009.
The first-year head coach expects players to be in ready to go on Day One; “Training camp is not the time to get in shape. They are going to be in
the best shape of the year the very first practice of the year. You
need to hit the ground running. If you watch our practices the first
couple days, we are not going to ease in and maybe just run a few base
things. We are going to be in no-back, we are going to be in third-down
situations, we are going to be in two-minute and red zone in the two
very first days. Installation was over in June.”
Schwartz was happy with the effort after the Lions’ first practice.
Packers LB Nick Barnett has had a minor setback in his return from reconstructive knee surgery.
Scott Wells, Jason Spitz, and Josh Sitton are battling for two starting jobs on the Packers offensive line.
From the “Snip-snap, snip-snap, snip-snap” file, Packers LT Chad Clifton had four surgeries during the offseason.
WR James Jones had the play of the day on offense, getting behind CB Al Harris and S Nick Collins for a long pass from QB Aaron Rodgers.
Prior to Vikings QB Tarvaris Jackson’s knee injury, first-team reps were evenly split between Jackson and Sage Rosenfels.
The hot seat under Vikings coach Brad Childress gets a little hotter when considering these words from owner Zygi Wilf: “I have great expectations.”
CB Antoine Winfield thinks the Vikings defense gave up “too many big plays” in 2008.
Though he didn’t say it wasn’t true, Vikings WR Bobby Wade regrets telling tales regarding Bears LB Urlacher’s off-color remarks about QB Jay Cutler: “It’s something I definitely probably shouldn’t have said.”
An overrated Barnett will be a liability on a already porous Puker D.