Even defending division champions coming off 11-5 seasons with 22 starters returning have issues entering mini-camp.
The Bears don’t have the quality and quantity some teams possess, or that they have faced in recent years.
But with two of those starters skipping voluntary off-season workouts, critical questions exist. Perhaps this weekend’s practices and the following three weeks of organized team activities will bring some answers.
What mood will Thomas Jones and Lance Briggs be in?
1. At least they are here. Jones and Briggs will be at Halas Hall on Friday after leaving voluntary team workouts in late April.
Jones has been working out individually. Seeking more money and annoyed with the Cedric Benson situation, he has made it clear he would be receptive to a trade.
Briggs stopped attending voluntary team functions shortly after talks on a long-term contract extension broke down before the draft. The Bears subsequently have pulled their offer and picked linebacker Jamar Williams in the fourth round.
Benson or Jones?
2. Why not both? That’s what the coaching staff wants.
Mindful of the demands a 16-game season presents, particularly for a run-first attack, the Bears believe a healthy diet of Benson, Jones and Adrian Peterson is needed.
Jones arguably killed a chance for a deal when he opted to stay away from the off-season program. Indianapolis football chief Bill Polian, who had inquired about Jones, decided he wasn’t his kind of guy.
Jones has understandable concerns. He virtually is assured of less work with a healthy Benson available. That would diminish the leverage for a new deal he has now coming off his career year of 1,335 yards. Jones’ best chance at a contract bump is now, but it isn’t in Chicago.
After a disappointing rookie season, Benson quietly has studied the offense and his role. The work already puts him far ahead of last season when a lengthy contract impasse and later knee injury considerably lessened his role.
Rex Grossman or Brian Griese?
3. Grossman is the starter, but Griese has a higher career passer rating. He’s certainly had better health luck, his season-ending knee injury in 2005 after a 5-1 start for Tampa Bay notwithstanding.
Barring injury, nothing of consequence will happen before exhibition games, if then. Getting Griese was a priority, ostensibly as a playoff-grade backup. But the absence of a quarterback controversy at some point would be news.
Will incumbents feel a draft?
4. The last two times the Bears used a second-round pick on safeties they landed Tony Parrish and Mike Brown, both Pro Bowl selections. This year, they took Danieal Manning in the second round.
Strong safety Brown is still in place, albeit with injury concerns from each of the last two seasons. At free safety, rookie Chris Harris was rushed into the starting lineup last season to replace Mike Green.
Also, with defensive tackle Tank Johnson injured, Dusty Dvoracek’s practice time and opportunities should increase. Training camp and pads are more revealing than mini-camps about linemen, but the last Oklahoma defensive tackle the Bears drafted went to the Pro Bowl and Dvoracek was Tommie Harris’ Sooner sideman.
Alfonso Boone, Ian Scott and Michael Haynes should feel some pressure.
In the return game, both Manning and second-round pick Devin Hester are being counted on to produce quickly.
Who’s healthy?
5. The Bears pointed to second-year receivers Mark Bradley and Airese Currie as “redshirts” coming off injuries as a factor in not making offense a draft priority.
With Muhsin Muhammad entering his 11th season at age 33, the need for impact speed and an established No. 2 receiver is urgent. Bradley, Currie, Bernard Berrian and Justin Gage will be battling.
Position competitions elsewhere could be more colorful. But the amount of practice time for young receivers, plus converted cornerback Rashied Davis, will be key to the offense.
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jmullin@tribune.com
kcjohnson@tribune.com
