[CBFF] Q & A with Jerry Angelo

[Steve Behrens]

Q & A with Jerry Angelo   (Part II)

Bears defense to be challenged by touted rookies
By Larry Mayer


In the second of a two-part series, Bears general manager Jerry Angelo
answers e-mail questions from fans exclusively on ChicagoBears.com:

Do you believe that the additions of receiver Calvin Johnson with the
Lions and running back Adrian Peterson with the Vikings will cause
problems for the Bears defense?

 .Louis M.
Los Angeles

They're certainly going to add something to those offenses because
they're big-play players. We've got our work cut out for us again on
defense because those two players come into the league with great
accolades. They have special talent and there's no reason to believe
that they won't be special players at this level. We're going to
definitely have to play good, smart defense.

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

What are your thoughts on the NFL playing one less preseason game
while playing an additional regular season game overseas?

Bob
Austin, Texas

The commissioner is driven to make the NFL an international venture,
so to really put teeth into that, playing a game overseas would be the
next step beyond what we have right now with NFL Europa. When and if
that's proposed, that decision isn't going to be made by me. That will
be an owner's decision. But we do know what the commissioner's intent
is and we obviously have some exploratory thinking there. We'll just
have to wait and see what happens.

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

Has agent Drew Rosenhaus used Greg Olsen and his contract negotiations
in any way to try to influence your actions towards Lance Briggs?

Dan R.
Urbana, Illinois

No, Drew hasn't done that. He's a professional. They are two totally
different issues as we know them and he, as we, will treat them that
way.

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

A man in your position must have been a sports fan growing up. What
player or coach most influenced you early in your professional sports
career?

Nick W.
Sarasota, Florida

I've been fortunate enough to be around a lot of good coaches. It goes
back to my high school days with my father, who was my coach then. I
worked with two great college coaches in Bo Schembechler and Bill
Mallory and have been around some pretty good NFL head coaches in Tom
Landry, Bill Parcells, Tony Dungy, Lovie Smith and Bill Belichick. I
don't think I've ever been at a point in my career when I haven't been
around a quality coach, and certainly they all influence you, and when
you're around great coaches, you're also around great players. It's
funny how they seem to go hand-in-hand.

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

Bill Walsh wrote the book, "Finding the Winning Edge." Are there other
good football books you would recommend as good informative reading
for a fan?

David H.
Chicago

I liked Bill Parcells' first book ("Finding a Way"). That was very
insightful for me personally. It provides some real good insights both
on Sundays and from an organizational standpoint. Bill Belichick's
first book ("Patriot Reign") was equally good.

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

Is there anything new to report with the Lance Briggs situation?

Kevin
Inverness, Illinois

Nothing has changed. We're assuming Lance is staying in great shape.

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

Have the Bears considered approaching Muhsin Muhammad or Brian
Urlacher about restructuring their contracts to free up some cap space
to re-sign Tommie Harris or possibly even Lance Briggs?

David M.
Texas

We're not in a situation like that, and that's due to good salary cap
planning by Cliff Stein. So that's something that we rarely have to
investigate. We do very little of that here.

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

I've heard a lot of good things about rookie wide receiver Drisan
James. I watched him for four years at Boise State and think he is a
playmaker. What are the chances of him making the team or at least
getting a practice squad spot?

Coby T.
Boise, Idaho

He played on a great college football team. They had a very explosive
offense as we all know just watching the Fiesta Bowl. Drisan has done
a nice job out here. He is an athletic player and we've certainly
liked what we've seen so far. He's done a fine job thus far. But we
won't really know until we get into training camp. Practicing in
shorts is one thing, practicing with the pads on is another thing.


=====================================


On 6/19/07, Steve Behrens <steve.behrens at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> Arrow continues to point up for Bears slot receiver
> By Larry Mayer
>
>
>
>
> In the first of a two-part series, Bears general manager
> Jerry Angelo answers e-mail questions from fans exclusively
> on ChicagoBears.com:
>
> With Devin Hester having been converted to offense, Mark
> Bradley now healthy and the addition of several promising
> young receivers, where does that leave sure-handed slot
> receiver Rashied Davis?
>
> Andrew
> Chicago
>
> Rashied has really looked good in the offseason program.
> We feel that he's gotten better. He's taken another step.
> We're real excited about what he will continue to add to
> the offense. So we've seen nothing but good from him
> throughout and the arrow's continuing to point up.
>
> --------------
>
>
> With Alex Brown having asked to be traded about a month
> ago, are you motivated to deal him?
>
> Dan T.
> Indianapolis, Indiana
>
> We've had calls about Alex, and as I've always said, we will
> listen to anything that we feel would potentially make us a
> better football team. We certainly revere Alex not only as a
> player but as a person, so for us to actively shop Alex and/or
> want to trade him, that's not true. I did visit with Alex and his
> agent and discussed his situation and I'll leave it at that. But
> as of right now Alex Brown is a Bear and we're certainly
> happy to have him on the team.
>
>
> ---------------
>
>
> How is Dusty Dvoracek coming along and do you expect him
> to play a significant role this year?
>
> Gordon
> Crown Point, Indiana
>
> He's coming along very well. He's back and going 100 percent. He
>  hasn't missed any time at all in the offseason program and we
> certainly expect him to have some impact on our football team this
>  year. We're real excited about what he brings to our team in terms
> of talent and intensity. Once we get to training camp, we'll let the
> players and coaches sort things out.
>
> ------------
>
> How is Adam Archuleta fitting in with the team and what role is he
> going to play on defense?
>
> James H.
> Sydney, Australia
>
> He's fitting in pretty well. What role he's going to have will be determined
> by the coaches once he gets into training camp. We certainly know he
> can play. Lovie [Smith] and coach [Bob] Babich had Adam when they
> were in St. Louis, so they certainly know how he fits in our scheme and
> feel very good about him and his status here.
>
> ---------------
>
> What made you pull the trigger on drafting Greg Olsen this year instead
> of going after a tight end in previous drafts?
>
> Rahul G.
> Northbrook, Illinois
>
> Your needs change every year. We felt pretty good about our tight end position
> a year ago. Desmond Clark had a real fine year. We know what John Gilmore
> does for us and he certainly has a role. We felt last year we wanted a tight
> end , it just didn't work out. We did target Greg Olsen early on. We kept our
> fingers crossed that he would be there on draft day and we were happy that
> he was. We're really excited about what he brings to our offense and feel he
> complements both Dez and John very well.
>
> ----------------
>
> Seeing that the Bears have running backs Cedric Benson, Adrian Peterson
> and Garrett Wolfe, can you elaborate on the decision to pursue Chris Brown
> (who agreed to terms with the Titans on Monday)?
>
> DeShawn J.
> Killeen, Texas
>
> We have exploratory talks with agents about their players as in
>  the case with Chris Brown. We're always looking to create as
> much competition going into camp as we possibly can. You also
> have injuries to players. Competition is good, and if you lose a
> player in camp or even during the season, then that player you
> had in camp is familiar with your system and he potentially now
> will be on your emergency list in the event that you have to look
> for a player. So there are always reasons why we talk to agents
> about different players. It's not necessarily because we're looking
> to replace a player. We add competition and insure ourselves in
> the event an injury occurs. That's what precipitated talks with his
> agent.
>
> ----------------
>
> J.T. O'Sullivan has looked good in his stint in NFL Europa. As a
> general manager, what type of emphasis do you place on statistics
> from developmental leagues and what is the outlook for him?
>
> Mike
> Plainfield, Illinois
>
>
> This is his second go-around in NFL Europa, so we expected him
> to do well as he did in his first go-around. Statistics are important.
> Is it the bottom line? No, it's not the bottom line. But it certainly
> helps you determine what the bottom line's going to be for a player.
> He's done a real good job over in NFL Europa. He's shown real
> good leadership skills. We're going to make a determination on
> his future with us in the next few weeks.
>
> ----------------
>
> Now that Cedric Benson has been appointed the starter, do the
> Bears believe that Adrian Peterson can step in for Benson if he
> were to miss some games with injuries?
>
> Tim
> Surprise, Arizona
>
> Yes, we do. We've felt very comfortable with Adrian doing that.
> That's one of the reasons we were able to make the trade involving
> Thomas Jones. We feel good about Garrett Wolfe as well. We have
> three good backs and we're real happy with all of them. They can all
> do a little something different. That adds to the makeup of our football
> team, in particular our offense.
>