[CBFF] Sophomore trumped

[Senzigx4]

By K.C. Johnson
Tribune staff reporter

July 31, 2006, 9:47 PM CDT

BOURBONNAIS -- On last week's reporting day, a shaggy-haired Kyle 
Orton strolled onto the campus at Olivet Nazarene University wearing 
sandals and carrying a guitar case. He looked like a hippie from San 
Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district, which he visited this summer.

Coupled with widely circulated Internet photos of Orton at various 
drinking establishments, one could get the impression of the Bears' 
young quarterback as laid-back and carefree.

If that is the case, Orton's demeanor changes when he enters the 
quarterback classroom or steps between the lines.

Just the second rookie quarterback to start 10 victories since the 
AFL-NFL merger in 1970, Orton found himself dropped down the depth 
chart after the season like an incomplete pass.

His reaction is what it should be for any self-respecting competitor 
who did the math when Rex Grossman returned from injury and Brian 
Griese signed a free-agent contract.

"It's frustrating being the No. 3, and I think the coaches know I'm 
frustrated," Orton said. "I don't think there's anything I can do, 
at least this training camp, to even become No. 2. That's Brian's 
job, and he's a veteran.

"I just try to compete with myself. I'm looking at it as trying to 
improve my own game."

That's tough to do with limited repetitions and most of them taken 
with fringe players who are as busy learning names and faces as they 
are the playbook.

Management has touted this season as a more natural progression for 
Orton, the former fourth-round pick who was baptized by fire when 
Grossman fractured his ankle and Chad Hutchinson lost his confidence.

But the adjustment will be a tough one.

"[Third-stringers] just don't get a lot of reps," Orton said. "I 
have to make the most of the ones I'm getting, but you're getting 
them with some younger guys who don't know the system yet. We've had 
some issues with snaps with our young center and getting the 
receivers in the right spot.

"They're nervous and trying to make the team. I understand that. 
They have a lot of pressure on them to learn the system. You try to 
stay positive about the entire thing, but it's frustrating."

Orton uses that word as consistently as some observers used the 
words "game manager" to describe his play. While it's true his 
quarterback rating of 59.7 won't ever be confused with Steve Young, 
the coaching staff still appreciates how he handled his tasks as a 
rookie.

Perhaps that's where his competitive fires and off-the-field 
affability coalesced to allow him to remain unfazed.

That said, offensive coordinator Ron Turner has acknowledged scaling 
back the playbook. And Orton's skills did seem to plateau and then 
regress as the season progressed.

"He needs to work on his footwork, getting rid of the ball quickly 
and throwing it with touch, which he's doing a lot better job of," 
Turner said. "Last year he threw everything one speed. We've really 
been working with him to throw the ball with touch, lay it out there 
when he can. He's making an effort to do that."

Turner also said that Orton needed to be ready, that stranger things 
have happened to a franchise that recycles quarterbacks like yard 
waste. Still, 10 victories must seem like an awfully long time ago 
to Orton.

"It's a pretty unique situation," Turner said. "But he's probably in 
the role right now that he should've been a year ago."

Instead, Orton found himself the starting quarterback of a storied 
franchise, a role he relished and looks back at fondly.

"I was proud to win 10 games and make the playoffs," Orton 
said. "It's obviously not the result that I thought I was going to 
have or wish I would've had. But it's just the way it is."

kcjohnson at tribune.com



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