[CBFF] Bitter end as Benson limps into off-season

[Jerry Madsen]

So is "sprain" the final word on Benson?  I was a little worried he did a
little more to it when I saw that June's helmet hit it pretty squarely.

Jerry


On 2/5/07, mom2iancal <senzigx4 at charter.net> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> Bitter end as Benson limps into off-season
> 1-2 punch is derailed; running back tandem in question for 2007
>
> By David Haugh
> Tribune staff reporter
>
> February 5, 2007, 2:06 AM CST
>
> MIAMI -- Cedric Benson's star-crossed Bears career continued Sunday night
> at
> the Super Bowl.
>
> Benson left the game against the Colts for good with 1 minute 33 seconds
> left in the first quarter after twisting his left knee at the end of a
> 4-yard
> run. He walked off the field under his own power and tested the knee on
> the
> sideline by trying to cut on it before the Bears' training staff ruled him
> out.
>
> (
> http://ad.doubleclick.net/click;h=v8/34f0/0/0/*/t;74322843;0-0;0;12925462;4307-300/250;19983053/20000947/1;;~sscs=?http://www.chicagotribune.com/classi
> fied/automotive/autoshow/chi-2007chicagoautoshow,0,4409841.storygallery)
> It ended a bad night for Benson, who carried twice for minus-1 yard and
> lost
> a fumble on his first carry when Colts safety Bob Sanders jarred the ball
> loose and Dwight Freeney recovered.
>
> "It's just a little sprain," said Benson, who had the leg immobilized
> after
> the game. "I don't know what happened. I just remember coming off the
> tackle
> in a bad way, falling sideways and someone (Cato June) diving in it. It
> hurts, especially to have that happen so early when you worked so hard to
> get
> here. Had I not got put out so early, it might have made a difference."
>
> The loss changed the Bears' running game and prevented them from using the
> one-two punch of Benson and Thomas Jones that had been so effective in the
> postseason. Without Benson to wear down the Colts' defense as he did in
> the NFC
> championship game against the Saints, more pressure fell on Jones.
>
> "Losing Cedric hurt us, but [Jones] ran well," Lovie Smith said. "We
> missed
> Cedric later in the ballgame. We never got into any rhythm running the
> football. You would like to think that having a runner like [Benson]
> available to
> you would help, but he wasn't available."
>
> The impact his loss had on the running game serves as a reminder how
> important Jones is to the Bears' big picture.
>
> That will be a factor when trade rumors start heating up involving Jones,
> entering the final season of a contract scheduled to pay him $2.25
> million.
>
> Jones' agent, Drew Rosenhaus, has a history of trying to negotiate
> contracts
> for players in the final year of their deals and nobody would be surprised
> if Jones wanted to do so.
>
> The Bears invested $16 million in a signing bonus for Benson in 2005 and
> that has led to speculation he will be the featured back next season.
>
> But a knee injury in the final game might give pause to some people at
> Halas
> Hall.
>
> Has Jones, whose 52-yard run in the first quarter Sunday was the Bears'
> only
> big play from scrimmage in the first half, done enough the last two
> seasons
> to earn an extension? Can the Bears afford to risk going into next season
> counting heavily on Benson without Jones if concerns linger about Benson's
> second knee injury in two seasons?
>
> The Bears have two months to answer those questions. But they had no
> answer
> Sunday when they needed a power-running component to set up Jones'
> shiftiness.
>
> dahaugh at tribune.com
>
> Tribune staff reporter John Mullin contributed.
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
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