The first week-plus of the Bears’ training camp included a run of events marked by varying significance: injuries to half the wide-receiver group, concerns about the kicking and a migraine on the defensive line.
Those commanded headlines and may continue to do so. But the biggest story of the first week was one more subtle, one that began in earnest at this time last year and took on a clearer shape last week.
More than any offensive or defensive scheme, it looms as perhaps the single characteristic by which coach Dick Jauron will be judged, the one that will be credited or blamed for his record this year.
Call it the “Jauronification” of the Bears.
Consider these particulars. Jauron opened training camp July 21 with little more than non-contact mini-camps the first two days, followed by Sunday off.
Wednesday he told players they had the night off to do whatever they needed to do–go out and have some fun, relax in their rooms, get together with families. It was their choice; just be in by the midnight curfew.
Saturday the first stretch of camp finished not with a full-contact rookie scrimmage, or a joint one against another team, as had been the norm the five years before Jauron arrived.
In between were more little things like a day off Friday for 36-year-old veteran defensive end Clyde Simmons, whom Jauron does not need to motivate and whom Jauron views as an assistant coach in the locker room.
“I don’t like the idea of scrimmaging ourselves, and I don’t like the idea of going against another team either,” Jauron said. “We go nine-on-seven every day. We don’t tackle in it, but we do hit. We have four full scrimmages, live kicking and everything, in the preseason. Those games are the real deal.
“My feeling is that we’ll have plenty of time for full contact. To double your exposure by scrimmaging yourself doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. It’s a long, long football season. I didn’t think we got a lot out of last year’s scrimmage.”
These small events of the week are this year’s indicators of how Jauron views his team and its season. The point is to build to a crescendo, not hammer hard at short-term goals early. It is a view different from that of his predecessors.
One major goal of Mike Ditka and Dave Wannstedt had been to weed out players using hyperphysical practices. Wannstedt also believed the only way to improve a skill was to do it. That included tackling, blocking and the rest of the NFL skill drills.
Jauron and personnel chief Mark Hatley are making over the Bears dramatically. But it is not happening through any Darwinian practice schedule.
The particulars of the Jauron program began last year in the off-season. Instead of crashing pads, there were subtle changes in the pace of even casual practices and mini-camps. The tempo was raised in drills, plays and entire practices, reflective of the Jauron practice philosophy of “Get out, work hard, get off.”
The goal was not faster practices, but rather a faster team. The result of the attention to pace was that the Bears ran 1,118 plays last year, 114 more than the NFL average. That meant the Bears’ offense ran a game and a half’s worth of additional plays than the rest of the league in 1999. This year they intend to bring the quality of the plays up to the quantity.
Jauron strongly encouraged players to stay in Chicago to work out during the off-season. But he didn’t insist, preferring to believe if he treated players like adults they would respond like adults. He didn’t push the players; they pushed themselves, which was part of his plan.
Cornerback Walt Harris worked out privately with ex-Bears Rico McDonald and Ray Austin, besides doing the Bears’ programs. Cade McNown stayed in town, and he and Jim Miller spent time throwing most days with receivers.
“We had a successful off-season,” defensive end Bryan Robinson said. “I’ve never been around a team that worked so hard in an off-season. “
The pace of camp will change this week. After a day off Sunday, the Bears begin four straight days of double sessions as they build toward Saturday’s exhibition opener in the Meadowlands against the Giants.
“I’ve been where they are so I understand how hard it is to push through it,” said Jauron, a former Pro Bowl safety with Detroit. “And as a coach you’re standing there and all you want to see is perfection, and you’re in the first week of training camp.
“I get disappointed in myself because I lose patience with the pace of our progress. We’ll take two steps forward and one back, and you always want to go forward. You don’t want to lose anything. We had a good week, but we need the next week to be much more productive.”
This is Jauron’s second season as head coach. He will be held more accountable for his methods this year than last.
If the Bears open 5-1, a big reason will be his “easy” early training camp. If they open 1-5, a big reason will be his “easy” early training camp.
