Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher, who has been dealing with a knee injury through the entire offseason, acknowledges that he’s not quite as ready for the start of this season as he’d like to be. But he still thinks he can be his old self in the opener against the Colts.
“No, I’m not up to speed,” Urlacher said, via the Chicago Tribune. “I know the defense well, but I’ve got to get my technique down and work on some things. But I’m practicing, still. That’s all that really matters to me. I’ll get it down. The more I’m out there, the more reps I see, I’ll get better.”
That doesn’t sound totally reassuring for Bears fans, and the Colts may be planning to test Urlacher on Sunday. Urlacher says he would welcome that.
“I’m not worried about it,” Urlacher said. “We’ll run our Cover-2 if we have to and see what happens. If they want to test me, I’ll have more chances to make plays then.”
It’s hard to see Urlacher being the playmaker he’s been for most of his career if he’s still not up to speed in the week before the opener.