Woodny Turenne picks off a Brett Basanez pass in training camp last season. (Photo courtesy of SI Kids)

I’ve been very critical of the Bears and their lack of depth at the cornerback position.  Once you get past Zack Bowman and Peanut Tillman, there’s not much there.  Corey Graham is inconsistent at best and besides him, you’ve got a couple of midgets in DJ Moore and Tim Jennings and rookie Joshua Moore.

ProFootball Weekly hears whispers that undrafted 2nd year man Woodny Turenne, who spent last season on the practice squad could be gaining momentum as the third cornerback.

The feeling among many hangers-on at Halas Hall is that CB Woodny Turenne, who spent most of last season on the practice squad, warrants consideration for the No. 3 CB job. Said one team insider: “He’s got really good size (6-0, 184) and is faster than people thought he would be. I think he’s a better prospect than (2009 fourth-round pick) D.J. Moore.

Considering the injury history of both Tillman and Bowman, finding some added depth at the cornerback spot is a battle to keep an eye on as camp approaches.

BEAR DOWN!!!

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Rookie sensation Johnny Knox leaves on a cart.

Johnny Knox had his leg folded underneath him on a kickoff return and had to be carted off.  Later, Peanut Tillman drew some friendly fire from teammate Craig Steltz that forced Tillman to leave the field on a stretcher and had to be taken immediately to the hospital.

Early reports indicate that both players will be OK, but it’s unlikely that you’ll see either of them in the season finale against the Lions.

Knox has an ankle sprain that might get Juaquin Iglesias some time against the Lions, while Tillman suffered fractured ribs that will keep him sidelined.  Expect to see Corey Graham or Nathan Vasher to see time at corner next week against the Lions.

If you still have fantasy football playoffs going on next week, Calvin Johnson’s status just bumped up a couple of notches.

Click on the image to jumps to the Bears website for the full depth chart

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Peanut Tillman and Lance Briggs team up to take down Fred Taylor

We’re still three days until the start of what is being called “Camp Cutler”, but some attention is shifting from prized acquisition Jay Cutler and turning toward the Bears defense.  According to the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Bears cornerback Charles “Peanut” Tillman underwent arthroscopic surgery on his back and is expected to miss most of training camp. From David Haugh’s article this evening:

The Bears will start practice Friday without starting cornerback Charles Tillman, their most proven defensive back, who will be out indefinitely with a back injury, the Tribune has learned.

Tillman recently underwent an arthroscopic surgical procedure to clean up a disc in his back. A similar condition caused him to miss the final two games of 2006. If the recovery goes well, the Bears expect Tillman to be back in time to play in the final preseason game Sept. 3 so he can see some action before the Sept. 13 season opener.

The curse of the North Shore University Health Systems strikes already!  What was I saying when the Bears announced their practice jerseys would be sponsored by a hospital chain? Oh yeah:  (more…)

Corey Graham vs Craig Steltz at Free Safety

Corey Graham began working out at Free Safety during OTA’s.  That signals a couple of things.  #1 – it shows that Nathan Vasher may be coming back healthwise and also gaining the confidence of the coaching staff once again.  #2 – it may speak to some of the depth at the CB position between 2nd year man Zackary Bowman coming back after showing some flashes during an injury-shortened 2008 and the newly drafted D.J. Moore exuding confidence right out of the gate.  I like the playmaker Graham to get the nod.

Caleb Hanie vs Brett Basanez for backup QB (more…)

If you think the arrow is pointing up for the Bears’ offense, the once-heralded defense is another story.  Long gone is the defense that carried the Bears to Super Bowl XLI.   The defense that ranked 5th overall in the NFL in 2006 has been in steady decline in the two seasons since.  The team that ranked 3rd in scoring defense in 2006, slid down to 16th the last two seasons.  In fact, last year the team’s average PPG was 21.8 compared to 21.9 this season.  That’s a far cry from the 15.9 PPG in the Super Bowl season of 2006.  Many will point to schemes and coaching.  I’ll dedicate a separate post just to address those issues.  In the meantime, let’s break it down: (more…)

Adrian Peterson had another big day against the Bears with 121 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns.  Those numbers are great if you have him on your fantasy team, but in real football it wasn’t enough to help the Vikings get past the Bears.  Meanwhile, the Bears continued to struggle to establish the run, led by 56 yards rushing by Matt Forte.  Almost every rushing play was over before it started for the Bears, but luckily scoring came from a lot of different sources.

Kyle Orton put together another great game with 283 yards on 21 of 32 passing and 2 touchdowns.  If Orton can continue to keep up this level of play fans will begin to wonder why the Bears even bothered with Rex Grossman.  What Orton lacks in throwing the deep ball he makes up for with great accuracy and a wonderful ability to call audibles at the line.  I don’t know where this sudden knack for audibles came from and why it wasn’t used in previous seasons but I hope it continues.  Orton has shown a leadership ability on the field by looking at the defense and deciding whether to change the play.  Just as exciting is the success those audible plays have had for the team to get first downs and keep the chains moving.

If the Bears don’t win this game, the storyline for the Bears are the dropped touchdown passes by Marty Booker.  He finished with 3 catches for 79 yards and a touchdown, but what you don’t see on the stat sheet are the two touchdown catches he blatantly dropped.  There are always difficult catches and miscues on the field, but twice Orton put the ball right on Booker number in the end zone and he dropped it.  The Bears seem to be showing a growing confidence in Booker and he needs to respond with better consistency.

The irony is before the game the biggest concern was the Bears secondary that was depleted from injuries and could have given Gus Frerotte a big day.  Instead, Frerotte threw 4 interceptions, all of them to young Bears defenders getting playing time because of injuries.  Safety Kevin Payne, and corners Corey Graham, Trumaine McBride, and Zachary Bowman all came down with interceptions.  The Bears defense also finally remembered that sacking the quarterback is a good thing, getting one from Kevin Payne and Tommie Harris.

Kevin Payne is an interesting player that I’m going to spend more time researching.  He’s been nothing but criticized in Chicago for his poor coverage skills and allowing receivers to get behind him for big plays.  But if you look at him on paper he came away with 7 tackles, a sack, and an interception that he brought back 50 yards.  How exactly can a kid so productive be dogged as a liability?  Only in Chicago…….

The Bears are far from the strongest team in the league but they sure are playing like a team that believes they can hang in with everyone else.  They manage to screw up plenty of games, but they are a few plays away from being 7-0.  It seems crazy but if you take away the improbable Falcons comeback, the blown lead against the Panthers, and the blown lead against the Bucs, this is an undefeated team.  It was always the Bears who had to come up with points late in the game to try to win.  This season the Bears are having no trouble scoring points but they are having trouble hanging on to leads.  It got scary for a few moments today, but perhaps this team is finally figuring out how to secure a lead late.

The Bears tried to run the ball late and run down the clock but the Vikings had Forte’s number all day.  The Vikings had their chance for heroics, but the Bears came down with an interception and breathed a sigh of relief.

I should probably be happier that the Bears came away with a win, but I’m a bit troubled how they won.  The defense broke down and allowed the Vikings to keep scoring and stay in the game.  This should have been a blown out like the Lions game.  The Bears have always had good defense and run the ball well.  They won today, but they did it by losing their identity as a ball club.  Now the question becomes, do they try to regain their old identity or do they embrace this new identity as a way to win?

Starting cornerbacks Charles Tillman and Nathan Vasher are both becoming question marks week-by-week for their availability on Sundays.  Vasher has a wrist injury and Tillman appeared at Halas Hall today with his arm in a black sling after a shoulder injury that took him out of Sundays game.  Tillman’s replacement, Trumaine McBride, injured his shoulder later in the game and had to come out.  Safety Danieal Manning suffered hamstring troubles and will also miss practice time this week.  Oh, and don’t forget safety Brandon McGowan has already been put on injured reserve earlier in the season. 

The Bears are a leg injury to Mike Brown away from complete disaster at the secondary.  This is not a good way to go into a game against the Vikings and former teammate Bernard Berrian.  The Bears could be forced to put second year corner Corey Graham and Marcus Hamilton, just signed from the Tampa Bay Bucs a few weeks ago as their starting corners. 

Tillman and Vasher are still holding on to hopes of playing this Sunday, but neither are 100% and would have to play through the pain.  This Sunday could be a repeat on last Sunday when the Bears did a great job of stopping the run but appeared helpless stopping the pass.  The front four on defense will have to work twice as hard to get at the quarterback and create havoc.  If the Vikings pass the ball a lot, they may force the Bears to take linebackers of the field (their strength) and put an extra corner on the field (their weakness). 

The more I see of this Bears defense, the more I think we need to start talking about talented safeties coming out of college and entering next year’s draft.  Coaches are making due with safeties and corners selected in fifth and sixth rounds of the past few drafts.  Some have some talent but none are particularly ready to take on a starting role on their own.  As good as the Bears defense may be, it lacks an intimidating presence at safety to put next to Mike Brown.  Kevin Payne has emerged as a solid starter with his solid tackling and good coverage, but he cannot take on the load himself.  After a couple injuries this defense gets thin very fast in the secondary. 

The one bright spot is the Vikings commitment to the run and Adrian Peterson may force them to stick with the run and keep a more balance attack.  The Bears defense can handle stopping the run and will certainly look for payback after Peterson torched them last season.  However, at some point the Vikings will have to go to the air and if the Bears cannot find a way to put pressure on either the quarterback or the receiver, this could be an ugly game.