Brian Griese is in. Rex Grossman is out.
At 1-2 and with the league’s 30th-ranked offense, the defending NFC champions need to do something different. So they turned to Griese, a Pro Bowl pick with Denver in 2000.
“I’m excited for Brian,” coach Lovie Smith said. “He brings a lot of experience. He’s been a loyal soldier in a backup role up to this point. He’s anxious to go. Our team will back him 100 percent like they did Rex, and hopefully, we can get this thing going in the right direction.
“Of course, decisions like this aren’t made overnight. I’ve looked at a pattern of our play and the play at the quarterback position.”
Whether this is the end for the 27-year-old Grossman in Chicago or just a temporary switch after several rough outings remains to be seen. Grossman’s contract expires after this season.
“As far as week to week, no. We don’t do things that way,” Smith said. “Rex wasn’t under week to week: ‘I have to play a certain way or I’ll lose my job.’ I always let a player play for a period of time to show us exactly what we are.
“Brian is our quarterback. The starting rotation has been established now.”
A 10-year veteran, the 32-year-old Griese has passed for 16,564 yards with 104 touchdowns and 80 interceptions and a 63 percent completion rate. He was a starter with the Broncos, Miami and Tampa Bay, but all three teams released him.
“First and foremost, as an offense we have to step up,” Griese said. “I think that playing offense is an attitude, and I think since I’ve been here, the offense has been kind of second-class citizens. Hopefully I can bring a little bit of energy and enthusiasm to our huddle and to our game.”
Tight end Desmond Clark praised Griese for his “calm demeanor.”
The Bears believed with a full season as a starter and with a deep set of receivers, Grossman would find the consistency he lacked last season.
Instead, last year’s NFC Offensive Player of the Month for September was neither impressive nor inspiring.
“I’ve been where Rex is,” Griese said. “I have a lot of respect for Rex and the way that he’s handled it. He has every right to be upset and angry, but he has no animosity, which I really respect him for.”
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BEARS HITS
Detroit Lions wide receiver Roy Williams was a teammate of Bears running back Cedric Benson at Texas. “He’s just a different guy, man, real quiet, hard to figure him out,” Williams told Tom Waddle and Marc Silverman on WMVP-AM 1000 this week. “All he cares about is winning, though. He won three state championships in high school and came close to winning a national championship in college.”
