August 17, 2007
Reigning NFC champs set to break camp
By Larry Mayer
BOURBONNAIS, Ill. – The Bears concluded their final open practice of training camp Friday and will return to Halas Hall after a brief workout that’s closed to the public Saturday.
“We had a great camp,” said coach Lovie Smith. “We got a lot of work done. We know more about our football team right now. We have a few position battles going on, which will go right into the preseason games, which is good. We’re a better football team than we were when we got down here. I like where our football team is right now.”
Smith no doubt likes the fact that the Bears are relatively healthy, with no players sustaining worrisome injuries in training camp or last Saturday night’s preseason opener in Houston.
The reigning NFC champions head back to Lake Forest with what Smith feels is the deepest roster the Bears have had in his four seasons.
“We have to see how it turns out,” Smith said. “But we talked a lot about getting our 53-man roster as strong as we could, and I would definitely say that that’s the case.
“We have good backups. You want to get in a situation where if you have injuries there’s not a big drop-off, and we’re getting closer to that.”
Smith said that the Bears accomplished their goals during their three weeks at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais.
“The individual improvement that we talked about getting, we’ve gotten,” he said. “Each year the team has to take on a new identity—what it will be that year—and I think we’ve done that.
“We’ve spent a lot of good quality close time together, so we’re anxious to get back to Lake Forest. All the things you want to get done in training camp before you actually get a chance to play that first game I think we’ve done.”
Smith identified rookie cornerback Trumaine McBride and second-year linebacker Jamar Williams as the most pleasant surprises in training camp and said that the toe injury that has kept McBride from practicing the last two days is nothing to be alarmed about.
FULL STORY
Reigning NFC champs set to break camp - Chicago Bears
Reigning NFC champs set to break camp
Reigning NFC champs set to break camp
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