Bears cornerback
Tim Jennings
admitted he made a few mistakes in Sunday’s 22-19 win over the Bills, but his game-changing interception made up for them.
Coach
Lovie Smith
was asked if he could live with Jennings having some missteps here and there. Remember, Jennings missed a tackle in the Packers game but came up with the key fumble recovery on the same play.
“All players make mistakes,” Smith said. “I can think of very few players that have gone through a game without making a mistake. You want their big plays to stand out a little bit more than some of their not-so-good plays. I’ll say that.
“But for Tim in crunch time, you just look at what he does as a defensive back. You want your corners to be able to tackle. Everybody will agree that he will come up and tackle. And again when you need a big play at the end, he came up with it. Double moves are hard for all corners to take care of, but you have to finish the play. That’s what he does. He finishes.”
Smith caught a case of amnesia when asked if Jennings is miles in front of
Zack Bowman
. Jennings took Bowman’s starting spot then Bowman sprained his foot.
“Bowman? Zack? It’s been a while since Zack was out there, so I tend to forget,” Smith said. “I am getting a little bit older. … Zack’s a part of our team too. We’re anxious to get him back out there.”
Cornering the market: Smith was asked if he was satisfied with the depth at the cornerback position with veteran
Al Harris
now on the market. Harris, 35, was waived by the Packers.
“Al and I started together at Tampa a long time ago,” Smith said. “He’s a good football player. He’ll land somewhere.”
Smith said he was happy with the progress of
Corey Graham
as the third cornerback behind
Charles Tillman
and Jennings, with Bowman injured. But Graham has yet to see action on defense this season as he continues to excel on special teams.
Injury update: Smith said he expects
Julius Peppers
to practice Wednesday after the defensive end exited Sunday’s game in the final minute and didn’t return. Peppers said he got the wind knocked out of him as he rushed Bills quarterback
Ryan Fitzpatrick
.
Bowman, who missed his second straight game Sunday, could return to action this week.
Extra points: The Bears jumped from fifth to third in rushing defense (83.9 yards per game) after surrendering just 46 rushing yards to the Bills. …
Brian Urlacher
was credited with a team-high 10 tackles against the Bills after the coaches reviewed the film. Jennings was second with nine.
