Coach Dick Jauron imposed a $500 fine for any incidents of fighting in practice this year. Two Bears may be hit with considerably higher tabs for their part in a late dust-up Sunday.
Center Olin Kreutz and running back Curtis Enis were ejected after a fight with two minutes remaining in which they went after Washington Redskins defensive end Kenard Lang, whom they believed was trying to poke one of their teammates in the eye. The NFL typically fines players $7,500 for first-time fighting offenses and $2,500 for entering the area of a fight and being active.
A fully-dressed Enis brushed past questioners, saying he needed to get “treatment” and offered no comment. Kreutz said the fight was not out of frustration at the lopsided score, 48-14 at the time.
“I’m not going to go fight somebody just because I’m frustrated,” Kreutz said. “That doesn’t make any sense; that’s stupid. I wasn’t trying to get into a fight because we were losing, I was getting into a fight because somebody was hitting my teammate.
“I’m just not going to allow a guy to lay on top of my teammate and hit him.”
On the move: Wide receiver Marcus Robinson and Bobby Engram passed Curtis Conway, who missed his third straight game with a sprained ankle, for the team lead with 36 catches each. Robinson, who caught just 38 passes and scored twice in his four-year career at South Carolina, led all receivers Sunday with his nine receptions for 161 yards and two touchdowns, all highs for his career. Engram added seven receptions for 65 yards.
Robinson’s four touchdown catches for the year are tied for the team high with Conway. He raised some eyebrows, though, when he unveiled an end-zone routine after his touchdowns despite the Bears trailing 45-0 before his first score.
“That’s just a little something Macey (Brooks) and I came up with from watching the `Tekkan’ PlayStation game,” Robinson said. “You get caught up in the moment. It’s not like, `I’ve got to do this when I get in the end zone.’ It’s just what happens. Just go with what you feel.”
Jauron has expressed disapproval with preplanned demonstrations in the end zone, but “he hasn’t ever said anything to me, so I don’t know,” Robinson said.
New DB? The Bears are dropping defensive tackle Jim Flanigan into short zone pass defense occasionally in zone-blitz schemes. On one occasion against Tampa Bay, Flanigan narrowly missed a Trent Dilfer pass, and Sunday, he got his hands on a Brad Johnson throw but was unable to get control of the ball for an interception.
“I was looking for one,” Flanigan said. “You never know when you’re dropping as a defensive lineman. Sometimes quarterbacks overlook you.”
QB change: There were varying thoughts on Cade McNown coming in for Shane Matthews in the first quarter when Matthews had been moving the offense. Jauron said the Bears simply “stayed right on course with what we had been doing.”
Todd Perry did not necessarily fault McNown for halting any momentum, but he did think that series had a negative impact. “It may have hurt our defense in terms of going three-and-out and not giving our defense a chance to rest and regroup a little bit and make the adjustments they need to make,” Perry said. “You can’t win in this league with three-and-outs.”
Said McNown: “We didn’t cash in a lot of times. You can’t point to one instance.”
Wishful thinking: Matthews described himself as questionable at best for Sunday’s game at Green Bay after reinjuring his pulled hamstring. Matthews, who had missed two games with the injury, said he was “maybe 75, 80 percent” coming in.
“It’s nowhere near as bad as it was the first time,” Matthews said. “We’ll just wait and see how it goes next week.”
Fourth and nowhere: One play that seemed like a turning point early was the Bears’ failure to convert on fourth-and-1 at the Redskins’ 22 on their second series of the day. It halted a drive that had gone 38 yards on nine plays.
An Enis run intended to go up the middle was thwarted when John Allred was bent backward on the lead block. Enis tried to bounce outside but was stuffed for a 4-yard loss.
“It’s 14-0 and you think you can make 1 yard,” Matthews explained. “We didn’t and you have to give them credit.”
Big Speedy: Dan Wilkinson motored 88 yards for a touchdown following an interception of a swamped Matthews. And like running back Stephen Davis on his 76-yard touchdown run, the Bears barely touched Wilkinson, despite the fact that the man they call “Big Daddy” is 6 feet 5 inches and 313 pounds.
Bears tackle Blake Brockermeyer was close at one point but stopped his pursuit. “I thought I had a good angle on the guy,” he said. “But by the time I got over to where I thought he was going to be, he was three or four yards ahead of me and there was no way I was going to catch him.
“He was a little quicker than I thought he was. Sometimes when you’re a big guy and you get the ball in your hands, you get a little extra burst of speed when you smell the end zone. He wasn’t a first-round draft pick for no reason. He’s obviously a pretty good athlete.”
Mike Wells stopped short of praising his defensive counterpart, but was suitably impressed. “You have to commend him for making the play,” he said. “It’s like a dream of a defensive lineman, it just (stinks) when it happens to your team. I’m not happy for him, but it’s going to be a highlight of his career.”
So do defensive linemen run faster when they’re going toward the end zone?
“I did it once in the preseason,” Wells said. “You do get a little scared.”
Remember? Former Bears tackle Andy Heck received a game ball following the Redskins’ 48-22 victory.
“I think it was real important for him,” said teammate Tre Johnson. “When a team says they don’t want you and need you anymore, and to get an opportunity to prove them wrong, that is a great vindication for any man. I’m glad that Andy played well and had the opportunity to show them that they made the mistake. Andy was just doing his job this week; he is a real good character guy. But we thought about it for him. For us to win and for him to get a game ball was great.”
“This is a big day for Andy Heck,” added coach Norv Turner. “Andy Heck has a lot to prove. When you’re told by your employer that you are not good enough or you are paid too much . . . it’s a big game.”
