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Grossman training regimen


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Boos just a memory for Grossman

By Michael Smith

ESPN.com

 

LAKE FORREST, Ill. -- Rex Grossman certainly is the toast of Chicago these days. But it wasn't all that long ago, less than two months in fact, that the Bears' quarterback was, well, just plain toast to some of the Windy City's fair-weather fans.

During a 23-16 preseason loss to Arizona at home on Aug. 25, the Soldier Field faithful booed Grossman and the Bears' sputtering first-team offense. Conversely, they cheered when backup Brian Griese entered the game, and even chanted his name.

 

 

Grossman was 13-of-21 for 117 yards and an interception against the Cardinals in the preseason.

"Half of me agreed with them," Grossman admits now. "The other half of me thought, 'They don't know what we're capable of and what we're about to do.' So there was a tad of, 'What's going on here?'

 

"Olin Kreutz came up to me when they were cheering Griese's name and said, 'Wait till you show 'em. You're going to tear this league apart.'"

 

Good call.

 

Grossman is finally healthy after missing 27 games over the 2004 and '05 seasons with major knee and ankle injuries. He is the league's fourth-rated passer (100.9) and leads a Bears offense that is tops in the NFL in scoring (31.2 points per game) and fourth overall (356.4 yards per game) heading into Monday night's game against Arizona -- the team that contributed to Bears fans booing Grossman in August. So, for Grossman, the game means a little more than an opportunity for Chicago (5-0) to remain unbeaten on national television.

 

"I'm going to come full circle," he says. "It's another opportunity to show what we can do on offense, and if nothing else to show the Cardinals what I can do and completely put the preseason to bed."

 

And to think that there was a debate in Chicago over whether Griese, an offseason pickup from Tampa Bay, should start over Grossman, the Bears' first-round pick (No. 22) in 2003. Except, that is, within the walls of Halas Hall, where on a daily basis the Bears saw how Grossman prepared and how well he performed in practice. The Bears stuck by their man knowing, once he got to play, he'd be The Man.

 

"It's really a simple answer, and a lot of times people don't like to hear the simple answer," head coach Lovie Smith says. "Rex has been a good football player all along."

 

"I said after that game [against the Cardinals in the preseason] that people needed to be patient with Rex," veteran wideout Muhsin Muhammad says.

 

What is it that Grossman is doing so effectively to have gone from a brewing quarterback controversy to inclusion in the early-season MVP debate? For starters, his receivers don't have to wait for his passes. Grossman's teammates marvel at his anticipation, how quickly he gets rid of the ball, how it's gone well before his receivers are out of their breaks.

 

That kind of anticipation comes only from the confidence that grows from having a strong command of the system. Next to actually being on the field, of course, the key to Grossman's early success is being in offensive coordinator Ron Turner's scheme for a second straight season. That may not seem like much until you consider the fact that Grossman played under five coordinators in five seasons going back to his college days at Florida.

 

Now when he steps under center, "I have a plan in my head," Grossman says. "It takes a while for that to come real quick to you. No matter what coverage, I've got a plan in my head right now: Where am I going to go with the football? What are my responsibilities? All that stuff just comes so much easier. I knew it last year, but it's so much easier the second time around.

 

"It makes it easier to play when you totally understand what you're doing so you can concentrate on what they're doing. How to dictate, look people off, how to come right back to your check-downs."

 

Adds Turner: "He doesn't have to think as much. Before there was a thought process. Now he's reacting a lot more."

 

"No matter what coverage, I've got a plan in my head right now: Where am I going to go with the football? What are my responsibilities? All that stuff just comes so much easier. I knew it last year, but it's so much easier the second time around. It makes it easier to play when you totally understand what you're doing so you can concentrate on what they're doing. How to dictate, look people off, how to come right back to your check-downs."

 

 

Grossman is seeing the entire field and progressing through all his reads, so his receivers have to look alive on every pass play. "Everybody's got to be on alert to get the ball even if they're not on the read," Muhammad says. "So you've got to run your route to win."

Whereas the Bears didn't have much variety to their offense last year under rookie quarterback Kyle Orton, Muhammad estimates that the playbook has expanded by two-thirds, with at least double the passing plays.

 

"It's been fun this year to go into a season knowing your offense," Grossman says.

 

Grossman always has had an aggressive personality when it comes to throwing the football. He likes to go downfield. He's always looking to make the big play. That's the gambler, the Brett Favre, in him. Grossman can make all the throws and he knows it. That sometimes gets him into trouble. Quarterbacks coach Wade Wilson says that in the preseason Grossman was so eager to do something spectacular -- knowing he would see only limited playing time -- that he would force the issue and not make the best decisions. In fact, watching Griese have success simply running the offense helped Grossman understand that there wasn't anything wrong with dumping it off to the running back or the tight end. Everyone around the team knows Grossman doesn't like to check it down, but he's beginning to understand that if he's patient, defenses will get antsy and things will develop downfield.

 

"The thing that I think has made him better this year is he's been a lot more patient. I think he's really gotten a lot smarter," Wilson says.

 

Grossman, at times, is prone to his old habits. That highlight-reel touchdown pass off his back foot to Rashied Davis in the first half against Buffalo on Sunday didn't look so good on film. Grossman's fundamentals were not sound on the throw. Wilson said Grossman's right foot actually was in front of his left, that Grossman was falling back and did not properly transfer his weight, and that the ball should have been picked. Wilson estimates that Grossman could have nine or 10 interceptions instead of the three he has thrown.

 

 

Bernard Berrian and Rex Grossman have had a lot to celebrate this season.

"The big challenge with him," Wilson says, "is when he has adversity he comes back and plays within the system and does all the right things. Sometimes when he has success [and] things are going well, he think 'I can expand and freelance a little'. That's what we're trying to rein in."

 

As with any quarterback, Grossman's success isn't all about him. The Bears' solid, veteran offensive line, anchored by Kreutz -- "All of them are at least 90s," says Grossman, rating his blockers on the Madden scale -- has allowed just four sacks. Muhammad changed his diet and dropped eight pounds (down to 210) and trimmed his body fat from 5.5 percent to about 3 percent. The real surprise on offense has been the emergence of wideout Bernard Berrian, who leads the league with five catches of 40 yards or more and averages 21.7 yards per reception. Berrian's development as not only a deep threat but also a complete receiver who makes difficult catches over the middle has prevented defenses from rolling safeties to Muhammad's side the way they did last season.

 

The team's unsung hero is strength and conditioning coordinator Rusty Jones. The change to Muhammad's diet was Jones' idea. Jones put Berrian on a linebacker's weight-training program. And he has put Grossman on a workout program similar to the one he designed for Jim Kelly in Buffalo, aimed at balancing Grossman's strength, targeting his shoulders and core area, and improving his flexibility. "I've taken more of a scientific approach to how in shape I am instead of just lifting and running," Grossman says.

 

While Grossman had the benefit of being the starter throughout the past two offseasons and therefore took all the first-team reps, he is about to make just his 13th regular-season start. His career, after a few stalls, is really just getting started.

 

Just being out there is a blessing for Grossman. Playing this well and having this much fun, that's just gravy. Perhaps even worth the wait.

 

"Now," he says, "I appreciate how much fun it is to play the game that much more."

 

Michael Smith is a senior writer for ESPN.com.

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I saw that tour, that was pretty interesting. Although what else would you expect from Peter Gabriel?

 

Much greatness and much weirdness - I saw that tour as well.

 

He's settled down a bit from his Genesis days but still puts on a dynamic and interesting show, that's for sure.

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