Bobby Wade’s release has left Bernard Berrian leading a group of four to replace him as punt returner and a void for some in the Bears’ locker room.
Berrian himself mentioned how quiet the wide receivers’ positional meeting was Wednesday without the effervescent Wade.
Linebacker Lance Briggs, a college teammate at Arizona and perhaps Wade’s closest friend, said he didn’t even want to discuss the move.
Coach Lovie Smith, while calling the decision difficult on a personal level, knows Wade’s eight fumbles or muffs as a returner were too many and that his regime’s philosophy must be upheld.
“There is a business part that is black and white: Either you’re producing or you’re not,” Smith said. “We may not like some of the decisions we have to make, but that’s how we’ve operated since we got here. If a player can help us win, he’ll be around. If a player shows us that we need to go in another direction, we’ll do that.”
Thus the Bears are comfortable changing a position of great import at such a critical stage of the season. For a team predicated on establishing a ground game and dominant defense, field position is essential.
That’s why Smith didn’t simply demand more production from his punt returners but also challenged Jerry Azumah to find the form that made him a Pro Bowl kick returner in 2003.
Both Smith and special teams coordinator Dave Toub said Berrian, Rashied Davis, Nathan Vasher and Eddie Berlin are in the mix to replace Wade. Given the team’s struggles at the position that include 11 mishandled punts, Toub is up for understatement of the year when he said: “Ball security is the No. 1 goal.”
His next answer seemed more revealing.
“Bernard Berrian is the best catcher out of the four guys we have left,” Toub said.
Berrian wants the job.
“I like returning punts,” he said. “It’s fun and I like to have fun. I’ve been catching punts for 1 1/2 weeks [in practice] and I’ve only dropped one.
“Right now we’re playing games of field position. If we can take drops out, it will be a big plus, especially with our offense. We’re driving the ball, but we’re not scoring. If we can minimize the amount of field we have to drive, that will help a whole lot.”
Berrian averaged 11.5 yards and scored three touchdowns on punt returns at Fresno State. He returned 17 kickoffs as opposed to two punts during his 2004 rookie season with the Bears, but he got the nod as the starter for the Sept. 11 season opener at Washington.
Berrian fumbled an exchange, recovered by Chris Harris, on his first attempt and returned one other punt before giving way to Wade in Week 2 against Detroit.
The speedy receiver is wearing a protective splint on his surgically repaired right thumb but has made impact catches the last two games and said the thumb isn’t an issue.
Fumbled punts are. As is an organizational philosophy–produce to play–that Smith said is applied no matter the team’s record.
“It’s individual,” Smith said. “Whether you win or lose, you grade the video based on what that player has done. We look at everything the same way–who gives us the best chance to win this week, period, no matter what we’ve done before or what’s going to happen later on.
“That’s the only fair message you can send. You have to base everything on production.”
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kcjohnson@tribune.com
