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Smith talking playoffs, Super Bowl for Bears

By Bob LeGere
Daily Herald Sports Writer
Posted Sunday, July 24, 2005

Entering his second season as the Bears’ coach, Lovie Smith still has the same goals, and he believes this year’s squad is better equipped to meet his expectations.

“Our goal still is to beat Green Bay, to win our division,” Smith said. “And this is the 20th anniversary of the (Bears’) Super Bowl (win). That’s the goal, to win the Super Bowl. That’s not going to change until we get that done.”

Despite Smith’s “the glass is always half full” approach, he and a retooled coaching staff must solve several potential problems before playoff talk is taken seriously. But on Saturday, when all players were due in camp, Smith characteristically preferred to dwell on the positives.

“We’re a good football team,” he said, “and I know we will show that on the field this year.”

That would make Smith’s life easier. He’s now past the grace period usually granted to new coaches, although he doesn’t believe he was given a free pass last season.

“I don’t feel like I had a honeymoon at all,” he said. “We tried to win last year, and we didn’t. When we played bad, people let us know it. When we played well, they (let us know that, too). I think they’ll do the same thing this year.”

Today’s first practice will be conducted in temperatures expected to exceed 100 degrees, but Smith said he didn’t anticipate making many concessions to the heat and humidity.

“Our team is in shape, and I feel like we’re ready to meet the challenge,” Smith said. “Dealing with the weather is just a part of it.”

Third-year quarterback Rex Grossman is a major cause of enthusiasm for Smith, but he’s also a giant question mark considering that he’s started just six NFL games and concluded each of his first two seasons on injured reserve.

“Rex is definitely a leader,” Smith said. “We like him leading our team. To a man, you can ask any of his teammates, and they’ll all say the same thing about him. We’re excited about him taking off. It’s a healthy Rex, he’s ready to go, and we can’t wait to get him on the field.”

The Bears may have to wait awhile to get first-round pick Cedric Benson on the field. No first-rounder has yet to sign, so it may be some time before Benson’s agent, Eugene Parker, feels a sense of urgency to deliver his client. Agents frequently like to see what players drafted just ahead or after their clients get before agreeing to terms.

Draft-choice signings are moving at an inordinately slow pace this year, and the Bears are hurt by having the second-earliest training camp start in the league. Most teams start almost a week later, so they can take a more leisurely approach in getting draft picks signed.

On the positive side, the Bears’ camp lasts a week longer, so Benson can still get plenty of work if he reports in a few days. Smith believes he’ll need it. And the longer Benson is out, the more difficult it will be to displace incumbent starter Thomas Jones.

“Thomas Jones is our starting running back,” Smith said. “So we’re moving ahead. We’ll have enough guys to practice. The guys that we have here are the guys that we’ll start coaching right away. Cedric Benson will eventually be here, (but) right now, that isn’t one of my concerns at all really.

“When Cedric gets here, that’s when we’ll start coaching him. We’ll be pleased when that happens.”

The Bears appear to be much closer to finalizing a deal with fourth-round pick Kyle Orton, who is the favorite to win the No. 3 quarterback spot.

Benson won’t be the only one missing from today’s practice. The top two fullbacks, Bryan Johnson (foot) and Jason McKie (pectoral muscle) are expected to miss two and four weeks, respectively. Keith Belton, an undrafted Detroit Lions rookie a year ago, was the only healthy fullback on the roster until free-agent Marc Edwards, a nine-year NFL veteran, was signed on Friday.

“We’re concerned,” Smith said of the fullback position. “(But) we feel a lot better about it now that we signed Marc Edwards.”

The 6-foot, 249-pound Edwards started 21 games over the past two seasons for the Jaguars.