[CBFF] ESPN.com - Urlacher won't blame back for problems this season - Sent Using Google Toolbar

Wed Jan 2 07:18:17 MST 2008

ESPN.com - Urlacher won't blame back for problems this season

 ESPN.com: NFL [Print without images]
 Tuesday, January 1, 2008
 Urlacher won't blame back for problems this season
 ________________________________
 ESPN.com news services

 Brian Urlacher was the poster child for Bears disappointment this season.

 Chicago went from Super Bowl team to also-ran. Wins dropped from 13
to seven. A once-feared defense ended up 28th in the league in yards
allowed per game. Not coincidentally, Urlacher didn't make his seventh
Pro Bowl.

 At the end of October, he confirmed reports that he had a chronic
back injury. On Tuesday, he refused to blame that for a subpar season.

 "My back got blown way out of proportion," Urlacher said Monday,
according to The Chicago Tribune. "It's fine. I won't need any
surgery.

 "If you look at the way I played the last few weeks, obviously it got
a little bit better as the season went on. Early on, I didn't make as
many plays as I should have. It didn't have anything to do with my
back. I just didn't play well. That's all there is to it."

 Waiving Tank Johnson before the season, inconsistent play from his
replacement Darwin Walker and injuries to Tommie Harris meant Urlacher
didn't get much help up front.

 But after a slow start -- by his standards -- Urlacher did pick it
up. He had interceptions in four of his last five games and did end up
leading the team in tackles.

 Urlacher didn't make the Pro Bowl for only the second time in his
eight-year career. He said he wasn't bothered by that.

 "Did I deserve to go? Obviously not, because I didn't make it," he
said, according to the paper. "I played the same way all season long.
I just made a few more plays near the end. I had a chance to make more
plays at the end, and I made them. And we played better as a defense.

 "It had nothing to do with getting snubbed for the Pro Bowl."

 And according to Urlacher, neither did his back.