[CBFF] Minn. Star Trib: Vikes 1st Round Pick out For Season (and Bears Artical)

[Steve Behrens]

Greenway out for season The Vikings' No. 1 draft choice injured his knee in
Monday's preseason opener
 **

Last update: August 15, 2006 – 4:09 PM
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The Vikings confirmed today that first-round draft pick Chad Greenway will
miss the 2006 season after injuring his left knee in Monday night's 16-13
preseason loss to Oakland.

The team did not specify the injury on a statement posted on its web site,
but the injury is believed to be a torn anterior cruciate ligament. In a
statement, coach Brad Childress said:

"The toughest part in this business is dealing with the injuries and this is
no different. It's unfortunate because Chad improved during our mini camps,
OTA's and training camp.

"He did a pretty good job in the plays he was in there for last night and
made a big tackle on special teams. Chad will evaluate his options in the
upcoming weeks and we are confident he will be completely healthy for the
2007 season. Chad will have the full time to rehab."

The injury occured while Greenway was covering a kickoff in the first
quarter. He did not get any defensive snaps before suffering the injury.

KEVIN SEIFERT

--------------------------------------------------------


Bears and staff are back intact While the rest of the NFC North gutted
coaching rosters and started over this offseason, the Bears are talking
Super Bowl in Year 3 of Lovie Smith's program.
 **By MARK CRAIG

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 *NFC NORTH TOUR*

Today's final installment: Chicago

 <http://www.startribune.com/stories/510>

<http://www.startribune.com/510/story/610027.html>
BOURBONNAIS, ILL. - The summertime swagger in and around Olivet Nazarene
University suggests the Chicago Bears have loftier goals than defending
their NFC North division title.

"We're not cocky at all, but we know we're good," linebacker Brian Urlacher
said during a break in training camp last week. "We should win a lot of
games this year. I think everyone on this team will tell you we can get to
the Super Bowl and win the whole thing."

Are the Bears overlooking the Vikings, Packers and Lions? If they are -- and
they say they aren't -- the question isn't why they would, it's why they *
wouldn't*.

While the rest of the division changed coaching staffs, switched
philosophies and overhauled rosters, the Bears return the same team that ran
away with the division in 2005.

All 22 starters are back. NFL Coach of the Year Lovie Smith and his staff
are back. The defensive system has been in place for three years. And
offensive coordinator Ron Turner's offense is in its second season.

In a whirlwind of change all around them, the Bears are the proverbial rock
in the division.

"Of course, I'm going to think that's a big advantage for us," Smith said.
"There's a lot to get in when you start from the ground floor up. The basic
things, the tempo you're setting. There's nothing like having a group
together for a while."

The Bears were 11-5 in Smith's second season last year. They had a
three-game lead on the Vikings when they rested their starters for most of
the 34-10 loss in the regular-season finale at the Metrodome.

Two weeks later, the starters returned and were spanked by Carolina 29-21 in
an NFC divisional playoff game at Soldier Field. The defense, which ranked
No. 1 in points allowed (12.6), gave up a season-high 434 yards including
58-yard touchdown pass less than one minute into the game.

"It's a long offseason when it ends like that," Urlacher said. "To have the
year we had and then get beat the way we got beat, it puts a sour taste in
your mouth and makes you hungry for this season."

And just in case hunger didn't fix things, the Bears strengthened their
secondary by signing restricted free agent Ricky Manning Jr. away from the
Panthers.

Offensively, the Bears finally were able to address a perennial weakness
when they signed veteran Brian Griese to be their backup quarterback. Kyle
Orton, the No. 3 quarterback, went 10-5 last year when starter Rex Grossman
was injured, but the Bears' ranked 31st in passing (125.1 yards per game),
29th in total offense (256.3) and 26th in scoring (16.2).

Nowhere will the Bears' continuity be more felt than on offense. In the
second season of Turner's first stint with the Bears (1993-96), the offense
set the team record for completion percentage (61.4).

"It's so much different this year," Turner said. "We're able to go through
the installation a lot faster. The difference is in the detail. Last year
they were learning the plays. Now they know the plays, and they're focused
on the details that make the play better."

It also helps that Grossman is healthy again. Injuries have limited the
Bears' quarterback of the future to four starts the past two seasons.

"We got a great running game and a great defense," Grossman said. "It's up
to me to put in the passing game and get that part of the game going. I
think we're doing that."

Two of the Bears' division rivals, the Vikings and Lions, could be helping
the Bears inadvertently by copying the core principles of the Bears'
defense. Each defense is designed a little differently to account for
personnel, but the basic concepts of those defenses come from the Tampa-2
scheme.

"I'm sure they feel that gives their offenses an advantage for when they
play us," Smith said. "The way we look at it, it helps us, too, because
that's what our offense is practicing against every day. So it can be an
advantage for all of us, and a disadvantage for all of us."

Urlacher, the key piece in Chicago's defense, warned against expecting too
much too soon from what he prefers to call the "Chicago-2" defense.

"It probably takes two years to really learn it," he said. "Last year I felt
like I knew it. But this year I know it inside and out. That's why having
the same coaches, the same system from year to year is so important."

With that in mind, the Bears will continue to swagger all the way to Green
Bay for their Sept. 10 season opener.

"Anything less than a Super Bowl ring," linebacker Lance Briggs said, "will
be a disappointment."