[CBFF] Injuries to Harris, Vasher not serious

[Tom Shannon]

Injuries to Harris, Vasher not serious 
(http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/bears/159954,CST-SPT-bearnt05.artic
le)

December 5, 2006

BY BRAD BIGGS Staff Reporter
The Bears' belief that Tommie Harris did not suffer a serious knee injury
was proven true Monday. An MRI revealed the Pro Bowl defensive tackle
suffered only a sprained left knee, and indications were that it was to the
medial collateral ligament. Harris told sources he expects to miss only a
couple of games, and coach Lovie Smith said it's not season-ending. Whether
that means he will return in the regular season, which has four games
remaining, is undetermined. 

''We're hoping that he'll be ready to go soon,'' Smith said. ''And when you
have a sprained knee, you don't know exactly how long it is going to take
you, but this isn't a season-ending injury by any means.''

The news also was good for cornerback Nathan Vasher, who left Sunday's win
over the Vikings with a pulled right hamstring.

''It's not as bad as it could have been,'' Smith said. ''And we'll see how
he progresses.''

Strong safety Todd Johnson (right ankle) also is improving and could benefit
with an extra day to prepare for Monday's meeting with the St. Louis Rams.


POWER IN MOTION: Smith called Cedric Benson's 60-yard effort with a
touchdown his finest performance of the season but stopped short of saying
it means he will take a bigger bite into Thomas Jones' playing time.

''He's definitely gotten our attention,'' Smith said. ''And I think he is
gaining more and more confidence in his ability.''

Not knowing it was fourth-and-inches, Benson busted a run designed to go up
the middle around right end and raced 24 yards to the end zone for the
touchdown. He picked up some tough yardage inside with some punishing
carries.

''If you described him, you would say he is more of a power runner than an
outside speed runner,'' Smith said. ''But I think he can do both as he
showed. I like the way he is running inside of the tackles. Most of the time
he's falling forward, and again with Cedric using his power and Thomas being
able to make a guy miss, I like what we are doing with our running game.''


SAY WHAT? The Bears still were baffled by the roughing-the-passer call
first-year referee Tony Corrente made on Brian Urlacher for pushing the
Vikings' Brad Johnson to the turf just after he had released the ball.
Corrente said Urlacher ''flexed his arms'' and shoved the QB to the ground.

''I don't know what the deal is,'' Urlacher said after the game. ''No
comment.''

Smith also disagreed with the call.

''I know right now we're trying to protect the quarterbacks quite a bit, and
I'm all for that,'' he said. ''I want our quarterbacks protected, too. I
think there is a fine line there with what protecting a quarterback is, and
I think Brian was right there. ... But that's OK; I don't understand a lot
of the things.''


BYE BYE: The next goal in the Bears' playoff hunt is a first-round bye. They
can clinch that with a win at St. Louis and losses by Dallas (vs. New
Orleans) and Seattle (at Arizona).


BIG GAME: Weak-side linebacker Lance Briggs continued his strong season.
After the coaches' review of film, he was credited with a game-high 15
tackles, giving him 133 for the season. Briggs trails Urlacher by five.

bbiggs at suntimes.com










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