It was close enough, said Bears coach Dave Wannstedt, that his staff would have to review the film of Sunday night’s game in Miami to accurately evaluate which quarterback, Rick Mirer or Erik Kramer, performed better.
So close, said offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh, that a decision might not be made on who will start the opener Sept. 1 at Green Bay until “the night before.”
“The decision would be made earlier if one guy was head and shoulders above the other,” said Cavanaugh, “but that’s not the case right now, so we’ll just keep playing them both and evaluating both.”
Wannstedt is tiring of the issue.
“I sound like a broken record, but we’re going to play the best guy who gives us a chance to win,” he said. “We’re going to do that at every position. The quarterback is no different.”
The Bears’ 21-14 loss Sunday at Miami in their third exhibition game may have been the best yardstick yet for measuring the quarterbacks. Getting his first shot behind the first-string offensive line, Kramer was 8 of 12 for 70 yards, with no touchdowns or interceptions.
But Mirer (9 of 12, 69 yards, one touchdown, one interception) may still have come out ahead with his most impressive scoring drive to date.
Wannstedt and Cavanaugh praised Mirer’s improved decision-making, particularly in a 10-play, 80-yard scoring drive. And they singled out a couple of scrambles–one for 16 yards in the drive–that highlighted his athletic ability.
“That’s nice to see because it adds a whole other dimension to the offense,” Cavanaugh said.
Cavanaugh said Mirer is improving at picking up the intricacies of the offense.
“We’re still fighting through that, but he made great strides (Sunday night),” Cavanaugh said. “He was good with his reads and he was much more accurate than he has been at practice. He was really struggling toward the end of last week, and he really stepped up big.”
Kramer clearly looked more comfortable with the starters, but had a few significant miscues, including one less-than-perfect short pass to Curtis Conway that the receiver dropped on fourth and 2 from the Dolphins’ 11-yard line. On the next possession, on first and goal from the Miami 1, Kramer rolled out and had Keith Jennings open in the end zone, but waited too long before getting it to him just out of bounds.
“He had some good protection, and he made some good throws,” Cavanaugh said of Kramer. “I think he’d like to have that ball back to Conway and could have gotten the ball to Jennings a little quicker. But it was good for him to get back in a comfort zone with the first guys.”
Kramer said he believed he had a better chance to execute the offense with the first line.
“I would have liked to finish off a couple of those series in the right way, but I have to look at the positive things,” he said. “Just getting out there and seeing things clearly and getting the ball off on time and making a couple plays, a couple scrambles, those are the kind of things I’m looking to get back to doing all the time.”
The Bears’ offensive linemen said they do not see a significant disadvantage in holding off on a decision on who will start at quarterback.
“As long as the best guy’s back there,” said tackle Andy Heck. “I’m not in a hurry to get a decision done if it has not been made. I think it’s too early to totally evaluate Rick. With Erik, you know what you’ve got, but Rick is still on a learning curve.
“As long as they’re executing the offense the way it’s supposed to be, it’s going to be the same.”
Guard Todd Perry said there is something to the argument that the line needs to start meshing with its starter.
“At least by the last preseason game, it would be nice to know,” he acknowledged. “But I look at it that whoever’s back there, I need to do my job to give him the best opportunity to be successful. As far as who it is, we have confidence in both those guys.”
Still, Perry said Kramer deserved the chance to work behind the first line “because he was really frustrated and he (hadn’t been) given the best opportunity to be successful.”
Kramer said he hopes to continue to get that chance, though he would not go so far as to say his status has improved.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I just think every day I go out there and even though they haven’t declared it as an open competition, I sort of look at it, I suppose, as competing non-formally.”
He said he was encouraged to know that the coaches are still considering him for the starting job.
“It’s good,” he said. “I’ve just gotten the feeling all along to just go out there and do your thing and they’d consider it. I’m just happy to be getting the opportunities that I’m getting so far because there were no guarantees going in.”
Especially after wondering last year if his career might be over following a serious neck injury.
“I look at this season and the rest of my career from here on out as crazy, because I’ve looked over the edge,” Kramer said.
At times, it even sounds like Mirer is rooting for him.
“It’s not a challenge thrown at me (personally),” Mirer said of Wannstedt’s decision to let Kramyer play with the first string. “We’re trying to get everyone ready to play. Erik is playing great, and I think everybody is happy to see that, including me. He came back from an injury that was pretty scary, and The more guys we have to go into this thing, the better. It only makes sense and it’s only fair to give Erik ample opportunity to line up with those guys because he’s been getting beat up with (the backups).”
As for the pro-Mirer argument that the younger–by five years–quarterback has more potential than Kramer, Cavanaugh dismissed it.
“I wouldn’t want to take anything away from Erik because I think he has a lot of potential,” he said. “He has had a lot of success in this league, and can potentially do it again.”
Still, at this point, it is clear that no one will concede anything.
“I still think Erik is ahead of Rick in a lot of what we’re doing just because he’s experienced it more,” Cavanaugh said. “But after a night like (Sunday), it makes it competitive.”
