The Bears’ quarterback of the future shares a past with the team that will serve as his first NFL opponent Saturday night in Champaign.
Rex Grossman grew up in Bloomington, Ind., rooting for the Colts just 45 minutes away and hearing stories about the days his grandfather–after whom he is named–played for the franchise in Baltimore. Rex Grossman was a backup quarterback, linebacker and kicker for Baltimore from 1948-51, and his grandson cherishes a framed picture signed: “Hi, I’m Rex Grossman, 6-1, 215 pounds and I play for the Baltimore Colts.”
“I was definitely a Colts fan,” the Bears’ Rex Grossman said.
Many Bears fans cannot wait for their first glimpse of Grossman, the first-round pick from Florida with the liveliest arm in training camp. He has impressed coaches with his velocity and accuracy but remains further ahead physically than mentally. Coach Dick Jauron acknowledged this week that Grossman struggled grasping the offense during the team’s two mini-camps and only recently has begun to see how it all fits together.
“I’ve got a lot of [the offense] down, but not even close to where I want to be,” Grossman said.
Jauron will announce the quarterback rotation Friday, but starter Kordell Stewart said Thursday that he plans to play as much as a quarter and a half. Jauron figures to give backup Chris Chandler enough reps to stay sharp and let Grossman play long enough in the third and fourth quarters to calibrate his brain to the speed of the NFL.
“I feel like I’m going to play a lot, probably most of the second half,” Grossman said. “It’s been fast on the practice field, but really I expect it to slow down during the game. There’s no coaches, no people yelling and everything kind of becomes quiet on the game field. I look forward to that and running this offense.”
Like much of the rest of Chicago, Jauron looks forward to seeing Grossman run it.
“I’d like him to perform with confidence, throwing the ball with authority, finding the open man even if it’s the wrong man,” Jauron said. “I’d like to see him taking control of the huddle. I think he’s done a nice job of that the last week or so. I thought Rex has taken a lot of steps.”
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Edited by Michael Kellams (mkellams@tribune.com)
