Despite Bryan Cox’s postgame outburst asserting that the Bears and Cardinals should not have played Sunday night, several of his teammates said they had no problem playing a day after the game was postponed because of heavy rain and lightning.
“I don’t want to make any excuses,” said wide receiver Curtis Conway, referring to his broken collarbone sustained in the second quarter on a pass-interference call against Ty Howard at the Arizona 5-yard line. “It totally had to do with the grab because if he wouldn’t have grabbed me, I probably would have caught the ball.”
The conditions and the psychological adjustment to playing the next day were irrelevant as well, Conway said.
“In my situation, it would have happened on any field,” he said. “It was unfortunate that the way I landed, the defensive back landed on top of me and there was just a lot of weight put on the shoulder.”
Conway said he did not want to play the game Saturday night, but had no dispute over making it up the next day.
“Sunday was a different day,” he said. “It was a different mind-set. Once you got out there, it’s like anything else. Once you get going, you’re ready to go and once I got going, I felt pretty good.”
Bears coach Dave Wannstedt was neutral on the issue of whether there are too many exhibition games, something that has been debated for years.
“I think everybody’s nervous in preseason games,” he said. “Every coach would tell you that. But those are not the decisions that we make as head coaches.”
And then there was offensive lineman Todd Burger, wondering what all the fuss was about.
“It was a football game,” he said. “We were scheduled to play the game and we played the game. The field was in great shape. I don’t think the field had anything to do with anyone’s injuries. We play a physical sport, and so people are going to get injured.
“If (Cox) didn’t think the game should be played, he should have made more of a stink.”
Cuts: The Bears released 15 players Monday, trimming their roster to 65. They must cut five more by 3 p.m. Tuesday to meet the NFL’s 60-man limit.
The Bears cut three drafted rookies–safety Ricky Parker and defensive end Shawn Swayda, both sixth-rounders, and defensive end Marvin Thomas, a seventh-rounder.
The others were third-year guard Octus Polk, first-year guard Jason Augustino, fifth-year linebacker Myron Baker, fourth-year defensive tackle Troy Barnett, seventh-year safety Vince Buck, first-year corner and former Northwestern standout Chris Martin, fourth-year tackle James Parrish and seventh-year corner Kevin Scott.
Rounding out the group were linebacker Daryl Carter, running back Mark Kacmarynski, receiver Kevin Swayne and center Emmett Zitelli, all rookie free agents.
The deadline for the final 53-man roster is 3 p.m. Sunday. A practice squad of five players can be created on Monday.
Jaeger back: Regarding old injuries, kicker Jeff Jaeger will return to practice this week and will be available for the Sept. 1 opener against Green Bay.
Defensive end John Thierry is still day to day with his pulled stomach muscle, but Bears trainer Tim Bream said he is “pretty confident” he will be ready for the Packers game.
Neither Jaeger, Thierry, James Williams, Ricky Proehl, Marty Carter nor Anthony Peterson will play Friday against New Orleans.
Rookie tight end John Allred will play after missing Sunday’s game with a hyperextended elbow.
Wannstedt said Carl Simpson will move back to defensive tackle this week after filling in for Thierry, with Mark Thomas starting at end.
Sean Harris is still recovering from a knee injury and was replaced ably by Ron Cox at strong-side linebacker.
