Marty Booker. R.W. McQuarters. Jim Miller. Marcus Robinson. Brian Urlacher.
The names and faces are becoming increasingly more familiar as the Bears work their way into a season that has taken on some sparkle with wins in their last two games.
But success that the Bears are having now with these players in leading roles raises an observation: All five were Bears on opening day last season, but only Robinson was starting then. And Robinson, who set a franchise receiving record with 1,400 yards in 1999, did not become a starter that year until Curtis Conway was injured in Week 5. Robinson had nearly been cut at the end of training camp.
Miller would not be starting but for the rib injury to Shane Matthews. Urlacher would not have started last year but for an injury to Barry Minter.
NFL history is replete with examples of players given short shrift early, only to reveal themselves as quality players to the very coaches who may not always have thought so. Yet not all of the decisions that hold these players prominently in the lineup are dismissed as simply mistaken evaluations by coaches presumed to know better.
Would the Bears have been enjoying their current success earlier if these personnel moves had been made sooner? Or should coaches realistically have been expected to see what was often not there at the time?
The reasons behind “misses” on who is an impact NFL player involve more than coaches’ judgment.
The system
Booker burst on the NFL this season with nine catches in each of the first two games. In his first NFL start, Nov. 14, 1999 against Minnesota, Booker caught seven passes for 134 yards and two touchdowns. But in between …?
Booker rarely approached his Minnesota performance last year despite dramatically increased opportunities when Bobby Engram was injured, and took over as the starter when Robinson went out for the final four games. He faulted himself for his failure to take a next step in his career and coaches were not satisfied either.
Late last season, however, John Shoop became offensive coordinator and Booker’s game changed. Shoop did away with many of the reads and adjustments previously required of receivers that forced some youngsters like Booker to do too much thinking during plays, resulting in slower routes. Instead, receivers were given assignments in the huddle and ran what was called.
Booker’s totals for the final two games were more than one-fourth his production for the entire season: 12 catches, 126 yards, one touchdown. “It was like night and day,” Booker said. “Everything just felt more comfortable.”
Not-Ready Guys
The Marcus Robinson who caught 84 passes for 1,400 yards in less than a full season was not the Marcus Robinson who was preparing himself and his wife for the possibility that he would be cut in late August, 1999. Robinson had failed to impress in his few opportunities and he was not the receiver either Conway or Engram was at the time.
“I used to watch them and wish I could do what they did,” Robinson said.
Urlacher was in fact projected to be the No. 1 middle linebacker when drafted. His temporary trial at strong-side linebacker was thought to be a way to get him on the field at an easier-to-learn position; he was always going to end up in the middle.
Urlacher and his teammates knew he was not as good as Minter at middle linebacker when last season started. Eventually “he got comfortable,” Robinson observed. “That’s the big thing. When you’re a rookie, once you get out there, it’s the NFL. You’re shocked. You see a lot of rookies come out and not get on it right away.”
The Coaching Factor
A coaching change brought in a scheme change that opened the way for Booker. The change from Dave Wannstedt to Dick Jauron was the difference for Robinson.
Although the Wannstedt staff had given Robinson chances, the difference under Jauron’s staff was “just not being nervous,” Robinson said. “When [Wannstedt and his staff] were here, it was always once I got in, `Hurry up, hurry up, don’t mess up; OK, then take him out.’ They were waiting on you to make a mistake instead of making a play and that makes your confidence level nervous.
“But when coach Jauron came in, they just said to go out and play, and when you messed up, they just kept going. They let you keep working, and then if you didn’t take advantage of it, they put somebody else in. He just gave me the opportunity.”
Sometimes, however, there are true misjudgments by coaches. McQuarters was traded by San Francisco and languished on the bench behind Thomas Smith last season, feeling at times that coaches had judged him before he ever arrived based on the 49ers giving up on him.
McQuarters finished last season as NFC defensive player of the week for his play in Detroit. “A lot of things in this business get labeled,” Miller said. “And once you’re labeled, it floats throughout the league and people have misconceptions about you.”
Miller should know. He was shunted to No. 3 quarterback in 1999 by coaches who viewed him as less a potential starter than Shane Matthews or Cade McNown. The reason, as then-coordinator Gary Crowton told him:
“I was labeled as immobile and a sack waiting to happen,” Miller said. “I thought, well they’ve never seen me, how do they know I’m going to get sacked’?”
STATS & STUFF
TAKEAWAYS.
7
Seven starters on the Bears defense contributed to the teams seven sacks, three interceptions, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries at Atlanta.
1. Warrick Holdman
0.5 sacks, forced fumble
2. Tony Parrish
1 interception
3. Brian Urlacher
1 sack, 1 interception, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery
4. Phillip Daniels
2 sacks, 1 forced fumble
5. Mike Brown
1 sack, 1 interception
6. Rosevelt Colvin
2.5 sacks
7. Walt Harris
1 fumble recovery
SEEING RED
The Cardinals have been the Bears’ most frequent non-divisional opponent. Sunday’s game marks the 87th meeting between the teams dating back to 1920. The Cardinals previously were based in Chicago and St. Louis. The Cardinals and Bears played in the final exhibition game this year. The Cardinals won 24-20 on a late fourth-quarter touchdown.
LOOSE BALL
Before Brian Urlacher’s fumble return for a TD on Sunday, the last time a Bear returned a fumble for a touchdown was Oct. 19, 1999, by Sean Harris at Minnesota.
KEEPSAKES
The Bears are one of only three teams that have yet to lose a fumble on offense (New Orleans and Tennessee are the other two).
A FIRST
Bears second-round draft pick Anthony Thomas scored on a 32-yard run late in the game against the Falcons on Sunday for his first career rushing touchdown. The jaunt also was the Bears’ first rushing touchdown of the season.
HE’S No. 20
James Allen rushed for 27 yards against Atlanta to move closer to Rashaan Salaam on the Bears all-time career rushing yards list. Allen has gained 1,624 yards, which ranks No. 20, just behind No. 19 Salaam’s three-year total of 1,682 yards.
TIME OUT WITH . . .
Bears wide receiver Marcus Robinson on the Bears’ two longest pass plays of the season against Atlanta.
“You have to keep (defensive) players honest. You can’t keep throwing just the short stuff. When you start throwing the ball down the field, it stretches the field for the run and everything else.”
PLAYING CATCH
Marty Booker was on the receiving and throwing end of touchdown plays Sunday. The last Bears player to throw and catch a touchdown pass in one game was quarterback Jim McMahon, who threw three touchdown passes and caught a 13-yard TD pass from Walter Payton in a 45-10 victory over Washington in 1985.
UP NEXT FOR BEARS
Vs. Cardinals
Noon at Soldier Field, Sunday
TV: WFLD-Ch. 32
QUICK LOOK: The Bears (2-1) will try to win three straight games for the first time since 1995 when they play host to Arizona (1-2). Arizona also won the last regular season game between the teams, a 20-7 decision in Arizona in 1998. The Bears maintain a 54-26-6 advantage in the series, but the Cardinals have won three of the last five meetings.
– Fred Mitchell.
