At some point in the 2001 season, health permitting, the Bears will field a No. 1 offensive unit that will include Marcus Robinson and David Terrell as the starting wide receivers. That point is approaching.
Terrell is still going through rookie “orientation,” consisting of earning coaches’ and quarterbacks’ trusts that he will be where he’s supposed to be when he is supposed to be there. Robinson continues to push his rehab schedule from July back surgery and could start Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings.
But only if he is ready, both physically and more important, mentally, for contact. Against the Baltimore Ravens, when he played 20 snaps and did not catch a pass, there was some hesitation.
“Definitely you wait on the contact and you want to know how your body is going to respond,” Robinson said. “But those are things you’ve got to overcome and put in the back of your head. Play football and whatever happens, happens. A month [after] surgery every little jam into you can go right down your spine. But you’ve got to put that behind you and keep moving on.”
Robinson’s return restores to the offense its most lethal weapon over the past two seasons. But he has not always been a weapon well used. The Bears were 6-16 in games Robinson started in 1999-2000, and 5-5 when he didn’t–3-2 in 1999 before he got into the starting lineup, and 2-3 when he was injured last season.
The obvious conclusion is that the offense tends to rely on him too much when he is in the starting lineup. Then again, until John Shoop became offensive coordinator for the final three games of 2000, Robinson played the last two seasons in the passing mind-set of then-coordinator Gary Crowton.
“[Robinson is] running more freely [and] running more freely amongst bodies, which is the thing you’ve really got to get used to when you come back, when you miss that much time,” said coach Dick Jauron. “In the [Baltimore] game he looked unfamiliar with the game, and that’s to be expected with how little time he’d spent on the field against the defense. You can’t prepare for the speed unless you’re out there. And even being out there all the time in practice, game day is so different. So he was off, his timing was off. He’s looking better every day.”
While Robinson worked his way closer to the starting lineup, the Bears were returning from a Sunday with no football but with thoughts and images of last week’s terrorist attacks. Most players spent time with their families before returning to a practice described as somber.
Asked if he missed playing a game Sunday, Jauron paused. “I guess the answer would be no,” he said. “At the end of that week last week it was good for everyone to get away and reflect and honor and respect those people who lost their lives. So in that regard, it was the right thing to do.”
