For many, Raymont Harris’ fifth 100-yard rushing game and career-high 33 carries on Sunday boil down to little more than another argument in his bid for a multimillion-dollar contract, either from the Bears or another NFL team.
But for Harris, the suggestion is akin to an insult for a player still just trying to prove to critics he can make it through an entire season.
“My statement,” he said of his 116-yard, one-touchdown day in the Bears’ 13-7 victory over Tampa Bay, “was to my teammates, to my offensive line to let them know I’m here. It may seem like I took a week off last week (with a bruised shoulder and ribs), but you know when I step on the field it’s going to be 100 percent and you can always depend on me when I’m out there.”
Harris said he was not limited on Sunday. “Tampa Bay is a very physical team,” he said. “They have some physical quality players on defense, and they were out there trying to take my head off, but I was able to do go out and do the things I like to do. I didn’t play last week because I knew I couldn’t play the way I usually play.”
Familiar face: Bears rookie tight end John Allred was a bit dazed from the shot he took by a Bucs defender in the second quarter. But he was not so dazed that he did not recognize the offender, Tampa Bay strong safety and Allred’s brother-in-law, John Lynch.
“It’s the first time anything’s ever happened to me as far as any head deal, but I was OK,” said Allred, whose older sister, Linda, is married to Lynch. “I knew where I was. I memorized three different names, so I was fine that way.”
Lynch was well aware of his victim. “Usually, you just hit people and don’t see the number,” he said. “But I had time to know it was him. I hated to see him lying there, but then I saw him smile and I knew he was OK. I just had to give him a shot. That’s football.”
And that’s Lynch’s reputation. “Now I know firsthand,” Allred said. “I watched him at Stanford, and I’ve watched him through the years, and I think he’s the hardest hitter in the NFL.”
And what was Allred going to say to his brother-in-law when the two had dinner with family and friends Sunday night?
“I’m going to tell him, `That was a nice hit,’ ” he said.
Running man: Erik Kramer set a career record with a 15-yard run against the Washington Redskins. He was only getting warmed up. Kramer set up the Bears’ first touchdown Sunday with a 31-yard scramble, a run longer than his season total in six of his previous eight NFL seasons. His 42 for the game was more than any previous season total in his career and more than his 37 coming into Sunday’s game.
Kramer appeared to have an open path to the goal line when he tucked the ball down on the Bears’ third play from scrimmage. But he was pushed out of bounds at the Tampa Bay 3 after a run that felt far longer than it was.
“It seemed like we were playing with a moving goal line,” Kramer said. “It seemed like it was getting farther and farther away the more I ran. I didn’t know I could run that far.”
Just looking: Bears personnel chief Mark Hatley was in Seattle on Saturday to scout the Washington State-Washington game. Washington State quarterback Ryan Leaf is projected to be a high first-round draft choice.
But Leaf is a junior, and the league prohibits tampering with underclassmen in the form of scouting reports, so naturally Hatley wasn’t there to see Leaf. “I was looking at a Washington safety,” Hatley said, laughing. Of course, now if some of Leaf’s passes happened to be anywhere near that safety. . . .
Feeling offensive: The Bears’ offensive line had a meeting Sunday morning and reached a decision. Because Tampa Bay under coordinator and ex-Bears aide Mike Shula runs an offense similar to the Bears’, the line considered Sunday’s game as a chance to make a statement.
“Their offense runs the same offense we run, so it was a challenge to all of us to run the offense better than they do,” center Chris Villarrial said. “We took it upon ourselves, and I think it showed up.”
Backing Wannstedt: In a taped interview with WMAQ-AM aired before Sunday’s game, Bears President Michael McCaskey continued to offer support for coach Dave Wannstedt, calling him “an outstanding head coach.” McCaskey confirmed plans to evaluate Wannstedt after the season.
“It (the evaluation) will be with a long-term perspective,” McCaskey said. “I’ve always thought that in the football business that patience is real important to building a solid, consistent winner and don’t make sudden jumps or suddenly lose faith in people.”
One reason for McCaskey’s sticking by Wannstedt is his belief that the personnel system of draft and free agency allows for quick recovery with the right player moves. McCaskey may have hinted at the Bears’ off-season plans when he noted that he considers the team’s foundation to be strong and that adding a few “high-impact players” can turn a team around quickly.
Conservative: The Bears twice took conservative options on Sunday when it appeared that a 1-10 team with nothing to lose might have pushed matters more.
Leading 13-0 with 2 minutes 10 seconds left in the first half, the Bears did not go into a 2-minute offense and attempt to score. The reason was field position. They started at their 11-yard line.
“We just felt pretty comfortable with a 13-point lead, the defense was playing pretty well, and to me the bottom line is I’m probably still not confident in that situation, backed up as far as we were, to come out and start winging it,” offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh said. “And the plan this week was to do just what we did–pound it on them, eliminate turnovers and see what happens.”
Earlier, with the ball at the Tampa Bay 32, coaches elected to punt rather than have Jeff Jaeger attempt what would have been a 49-yard field goal with a 15 m.p.h. west wind.
“The wind was with us at that point, but (Jaeger) was only comfortable with the ball at the 25-yard line,” Wannstedt said. “That was something we talked about.”
Hurting: Left guard Todd Perry sustained a deep thigh bruise on the Bears’ first possession and was replaced briefly by Chris Gray, who opened the hole for Harris’ 2-yard touchdown run. Perry tried to play later in the half, but was forced to spend the second half in the locker room receiving treatment.
Fast start: The Bears’ 13-0 halftime lead was only the third time this season they have led after two quarters, and only the first they made stand up for a victory.
