FINISH LINE: Down on the Bears

  • Herald news services
  • Tuesday, December 1, 2009 12:01am
  • Sports

Brian Urlacher may be getting a little stir crazy.

The Bears linebacker, who is out for the season with a wrist injury, watched Sunday’s Bears-Vikings game with reporter Michael Silver and had this to say about quarterback Jay Cutler:

“Look, I love Jay, and I understand he’s a great player who can take us a long way, and I still have faith in him. But I hate the way our identity has changed. We used to establish the run and wear teams down and try not to make mistakes, and we’d rely on our defense to keep us in the game and make big plays to put us in position to win.

“Kyle Orton might not be the flashiest quarterback, but the guy is a winner, and that formula worked for us. I hate to say it, but that’s the truth.”

Urlacher clarified his comments during a phone interview with the Chicago Tribune.

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“I’m not taking a shot at Jay. I’m not one bit taking a shot at Jay,” Urlacher said. “He throws it better, right? And we haven’t tried to run the ball as much. That’s true.”

Urlacher also seems to love the Vikings’ defense, because also in the Yahoo Sports story, Urlacher had this to say after running back Matt Forte was stuffed on a screen pass:

“You know why that doesn’t work? We don’t make anyone – – – – – – – miss. I guess I just don’t realize what great tacklers these (opposing defenders) are. They’re amazing.”

Urlacher said he was not criticizing Forte’s ability.

“Minnesota’s a good-tackling team, and they were up on our receivers pressing all game along,” Urlacher said. “They never backed off. That’s all I was saying.”

Sure, Brian.

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