The hit paled in comparison to ones Rex Grossman more than likely will absorb as he lives his dream of quarterbacking the Bears on a playoff run.
Perhaps that fact, not to mention a healthy dose of adrenaline and excitement, is why Grossman bounced up so quickly after Atlanta’s Rod Coleman got to him on a pass attempt Sunday night.
Then again, Grossman has torn an anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee on a non-contact play and broken his left ankle on a freak play when he was chased and twisted down by Rams linebackers Jeremy Loyd and Trev Faulk.
That’s why the grieving period for Bears management in the direct aftermath of the latter injury included a soul-searching session about Grossman’s durability, an issue that hasn’t disappeared just because the bone has healed.
“There’s always a concern with anyone who has been injured before,” coach Lovie Smith said on the day he promoted Grossman back to his starting position. “But we feel he’s ready to go. Injuries happen at all times. I think the only thing you can do is try to protect yourself as much as you can at all positions. The only way you can do that is by strength in numbers. We feel good about all three quarterbacks.”
Grossman, for his part, shrugs off the issue as quickly as he did Coleman’s hit.
The questions are fair, Grossman maintains. But so is his mind-set that he has been playing football a long time and three freak injuries–he also tore a tendon in a finger on his throwing hand during his rookie season–don’t make a player injury-prone.
While Grossman rejects that tag, he accepts questions about recent uncertainty he had over his ankle.
“I really didn’t doubt my talent that I could go out and play,” he said. “It was more, `Is my ankle going to be healthy? Am I going to feel 100 percent when I get out there or am I always going to have a limp?’
“There was some uncertainty I had that I was going to feel as well as I feel now.”
Though he began throwing to receivers while running the scout team on Nov. 17, Grossman said he didn’t feel 100 percent until late in the week of preparation for the Dec. 11 game in Pittsburgh.
True to the giddiness that has been apparent all week with Grossman, he complimented athletic trainer Tim Bream and team physicians Armen Kelikian and Mark Bowen during the news conference about his promotion to starter.
Not worrying about the ankle is essential, too, because Grossman now has throwing mechanics to master, an offense to run and rust to shake.
“I need to get that muscle memory so I’m not thinking about how to throw it,” he said.
“If I keep working on that, I can start thinking about more complicated things and let the physical part of throwing just take care of itself.”
A full week of practice as the starting quarterback should help.
“It will definitely give me more chance to prepare rather than five minutes at halftime,” Grossman said. “Six days to prepare for the Packers, having just recently watched a bunch of tape and gone through a game plan a couple of weeks ago, I definitely have what they do fresh in my mind.
“And then just to get most of the reps in practice will help for the timing and calling the plays and getting in and out of the huddle and some of the checks we have to make.”
Practice reps won’t help, though, with taking hits. Coleman’s was the first. The Bears hope to see Grossman survive several more.
“It was reassuring that I can get hit and I’m back in live action,” Grossman said. “It’s part of the game and I need to get used to it.”
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kcjohnson@tribune.com
