Trying to joke but not jinx himself, Bears center Olin Kreutz needled coach Lovie Smith before practice Wednesday that he wanted to be demoted.
The Bears have lost three captains to injuries in the first three games–quarterback Rex Grossman, free safety Mike Brown and linebacker Brian Urlacher–and Kreutz told Smith with a straight face that he had no intention of becoming the fourth.
“He said, `I don’t know if I like being a captain,”‘ Smith related, smiling.
Kidding aside, the Bears indeed will give Kreutz some company for the coin flip before Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
“With three [captains] down, we’ll have to take a vote and get a couple more guys,” Smith said.
No matter what the ballot box says, one of the emerging team leaders will be quarterback Jonathan Quinn because his new role as the Bears’ starter in place of Grossman demands it.
A quarterback who can’t lead is as useful as a chef who can’t cook.
So the way Quinn took control of the huddle in his first practice since taking the helm became all the more significant.
With the 10 other offensive players rapt with curiosity as they surrounded him, Quinn made no mention of his added responsibility. He spoke with authority, and his body language left no doubt who was in charge.
“He just came right in and started calling plays and was real confident,” fullback Bryan Johnson said. “We don’t have a lot of time to sit around and talk about what’s going on. This is the NFL. There are no lousy backups. Guys listened to him.”
Not that the players had other options.
“We really have no choice but to get behind him at this point,” tight end Dustin Lyman said. “I don’t think he’ll have a problem. I think everyone will give Quinn the benefit of the doubt.”
Quinn probably earned that with his workmanlike style, but chances are he never asked for it.
Unlike Grossman, whose gregarious nature infected teammates, not many Bears players seemed to know Quinn that well when asked. A career as a backup obviously has convinced Quinn that No. 2 quarterbacks are best seen but not heard in the locker room–a demeanor that already has started to change.
“Some guys are more the rah-rah type and some jump in the huddle and know what they’re doing and guys look in their eyes,” Smith said. “Jonathan stepped into the huddle and barked out the calls.”
As much as Quinn’s intangibles will help him lead the Bears, they hardly guarantee him success or job security. That requires results, and there isn’t much to his NFL resume.
It’s nondescript.
Even offensive coordinator Terry Shea’s most enthusiastic compliments about Quinn’s talents this week have praised the way Quinn meticulously charted plays in Kansas City, and how he was the best basketball player on the Chiefs.
There has not been an NFL team yet that won a game based on its quarterback’s ability to draw X’s and O’s and shoot baskets.
“I think my strengths are my knowledge of the offense, arm strength and experience,” Quinn said. “This offense can build itself around any player with any talent depending what is the strength. And right now that strength might be the running game.”
Problem is, every remaining team on the Bears’ schedule had figured that out before Grossman was fitted for his knee brace. Even if the Bears rely on the running of Thomas Jones, the time will come when they need Quinn to make a play.
You don’t have to go too far down the block, or down the radio dial, to find someone who doubts whether he can make those plays.
“I don’t pay a whole lot of attention to it,” Quinn said. “I’m out there to do my job and get the ball into the hands of playmakers, and if that proves someone right or wrong, so be it.”
Smith believes in Quinn because he believes the Bears’ offensive scheme, copied from Kansas City and St. Louis, removes much of the doubt about unproven quarterbacks. Though he might get an argument from Trent Green, Kurt Warner or Marc Bulger–and even Quinn.
“I think the system can make the quarterback,” Smith said. “Unless it’s just a great athlete, most systems make the quarterback.”
Can the Bears’ system make the dropoff from Grossman to Quinn negligible?
The real test would come if rookie No. 2 Craig Krenzel were pressed into action Sunday because–ugh–something happened to Quinn.
“We’ve had one quarterback go down so odds are, we’re not going to have another,” Smith said, pausing. “Maybe I shouldn’t even say that.”
