Bears in no rush to fret

Bears in no rush to fret


Tim Spencer, the Bears' running backs coach, is usually rather reserved, but he became a bit testy when pressed about Cedric Benson's performance Saturday night against San Francisco.

"You know, I don't know how you guys see the game," Spencer said sharply. "I don't necessarily see it as him having a bad game. I think he did some good things.

"He got some minus yards. I need to go back and look at it to see what happened, but I know I saw a couple of times, not only him, but a couple of other guys didn't get started in the backfield. But that could be a lot of things.

"To me, it's nothing to worry about."

Maybe not at the moment, but what happens if Benson gains just 33 yards on 19 carries in the regular-season opener Sept. 9 at San Diego? What if he gets stopped eight times for no gain or a loss when Dallas comes to Soldier Field in Week 3?

Benson, dripping wet from his postgame shower, tried to convince himself the running game isn't washed up.

"I thought it looked good," he said. "You can always say you can be better. We had some good runs. We had some positive moves forward. And we also had a couple of mishaps [and] a couple of missed assignments, but nothing toward a downfall. I think it was all on the up and up."

If Saturday was viewed as a positive step for the running game, quarterback Rex Grossman had better invest in some bags of ice with all the throwing he'll have to do. Coach Lovie Smith's motto continues to be run first, pass second, but it was Grossman's 45-yard pass to Bernard Berrian on the first series that established the offense, not a big play by Benson.

You know the Bears' running game is in trouble when Saturday's longest runs were punter Brad Maynard's 18-yard gain and backup quarterback Brian Griese's 13-yarder. Benson enters Thursday's final exhibition against Cleveland averaging a meager 2.4 yards per carry. That's the lowest yards-per-carry preseason average among the NFL's top 60 rushers, quarterbacks included.

Sure, Benson had a few nice cutbacks and some powerful bursts against the 49ers, but he resembled a smooth-handling point guard going nowhere with the dribble.

"They were playing tight and strong in the box," Benson said of the 49ers' defense. "We expected that stuff. They made some good plays."

Added fullback Jason McKie: "San Francisco has a good defensive team. They gave us some hard looks."

Actually, the 49ers' defense ranked in the bottom half of the league against the run last season. The addition of rookie linebacker Pat Willis didn't make them the Baltimore Ravens overnight. Too often in the three exhibitions, Bears backs have found themselves running in place rather than in space.

Adrian Peterson had better numbers than Benson did, but Adrian Peterson wasn't running against the first-team defense.

And rookie Garrett Wolfe, promising because of his speed and a low running style, fumbled the ball on a third-down play. He recovered it, but the gaffe made Spencer more irate than he was during his postgame interview.

Yet Spencer insisted people are making too big a deal of the running game's struggles. McKie said the same.

"Last year in the preseason it was the same thing: People talking about the running game, the running game," he said. "Then when we got it going, you guys let off us. I don't think anyone around here is really concerned."

Maybe they should be. Remember, the Bears don't have a proven back with 1,000-yard rusher Thomas Jones now with the Jets. New starter Benson, whose durability has been questioned, won't have an easy baptism with those early games against San Diego and Dallas. Both teams were among the NFL's top 10 run defenses last season.

What will change between now and Sept. 9?

"Probably just game-planning," Benson said.

"That might be the only adjustment we need to make, actually prepare for a team as if it were a regular-season game. I'm not really worried."

At least Benson's confidence is running unimpeded.

[More at http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com]