Welcome to this week's installment of Opinionating, where I use my inflated sense of my own self-worth to share my musings on the Bears assuming you care.
1) Brandon Marshall will be fine. There was some fuss today from the media because Marshall made some cryptic comments about feeling rushed in his recovery from surgery and his hip not being 100%, and Trestman made a seemingly innocuous but mildly concerning comment about Marshall putting up big numbers "if he plays all 16 games." I have to say I'm not worried. I cannot possibly imagine the Bears putting Marshall into two preseason games and then having him unable to compete in the regular season because of his recovery isn't complete. If that's the case, the entire training staff should be fired. Either way, I'd expect Brandon to tough it out considering he had an All-Pro type year with the hip injury that required the surgery, anyway.
2)Moon Mullin is insane, and apparently has the memory of a house fly. Mullin was one of the main pot-stirrers this morning, writing this piece of crap about Marshall's comments. I don't even think the bullshit comes from him writing about Marshall's injury comments, which were admittedly odd and seemingly out of the blue, but from him overreacting to Marshall saying he's still finding his place in the offense. Mullin states that Marshall may be worried about being passed up by Jeffery, and uses Jeffery getting twice as many targets in one half of preseason football as Marshall as evidence. This just a week after Mullin, I shit you not, was one of the chorus of reactionaries criticizing Jay for targeting Marshall too much. The Chicago media can't go one fucking PRESEASON GAME without sticking their own heads up their asses just to argue with their colons about what they want to shit out on their next column.
Brandon Marshall has played in four different offenses in his NFL career, and he's never had less than 1000 yds in any of those seasons. I think he can handle whatever role he's given.
3) I think Marquess Wilson will not only make the roster, but could work his way into a 50/50 timeshare with Earl Bennett as the third wide receiver well before the midpoint of the season. This isn't an overreaction to a couple of nice preseason catches so much as affirmation that the talent he put on display at Washington State has rightfully overrode any concerns about his personality that dropped him to the seventh round. Also, sadly, if Earl even makes it to the midpoint of the season healthy I'll be amazed.
4)I don't know how I'll ever get over the Bears cutting Matt Blanchard. He was their best backup QB prospect since Caleb Hanie.
5)He's been forgotten in all the buzz about Long and Mills and even Bushrod (who plays the "glamor" spot of the OL), but Matt Slauson looks like a fantastic pick-up. We'll see how the season shakes out, but if he can repeat the solid performance he put up as a Jet last year I think an extension for him would be high on Phil's list, with the rest of the OL (assuming Mills and Long stay starters) under contract for the next few years.
6)Lance Louis was released today. That's a fact, not an opinion, but it's worth mentioning. I am glad that Phil decided not to trust the guard spot to a guy with one working leg, even though many at the time were quite upset to lose the best Bears offensive lineman from the past several years. Louis has always had issues with injuries, though, so it'll be interesting to see if anyone takes another chance on a one-dimensional, injury prone guard.
7)Also, the Louis news has me thinking that Jeff Ireland may be taking the Jerry Angelo approach to building around a franchise QB. Build an offensive line out of washed up veterans and a second year tackle who sucked on the right side as a rookie but will somehow play better at left tackle because "it's his natural position." I'll admit to thinking Tannehill would be a bust, when it turns out the kid can probably play, but he's going to have a hard time developing behind that protection.
8)I still feel really, really bad about Kevin Kolb. Robert Mays of Grantland said that Kolb's issue was an inability to avoid hits, which, even if true (and I don't believe it is. Kolb was sliding after a scramble when he took a knee to the back of his head. How the hell could he have avoided that?), seems unnecessarily cruel. Let's blame a guy who may suffer from a debilitating brain injury for the rest of his life for the death of his career while its body is still warm. I'd really like to put Mays behind last year's Cardinals offensive line to demonstrate the proper way to avoid a hit in that situation. You'd have a better chance of avoiding a hit if you ratted on Aaron Hernandez than playing behind that line (Last Hernandez joke I'll ever make. I swear. Unless you thought it was funny).
9) I love Mike Leach way more than I should, and his reaction to Jeff Tuel (his QB last year at Washington State) starting week one was classic.
10) I am terribly sad that no one in all of this quarterback insanity has signed JaMarcus Russell. Come on, that would be hysterical, and you know it. Nobody in the NFL knows the value of losing in hilarious fashion, except Rex Ryan. Clearly. Pull the trigger, Rex. JaMarcus is the way.
