Lovie Smith literally would rather have talked about the weather than his precarious quarterback situation or the offensive line that allowed 10 sacks against the Giants when he met the media on Thursday (''Great weather for a great practice today,'' he said in opening remarks after practice.).

So after playing the usual cat-and-mouse game with reporters (avoiding a question about the offensive line; refusing to reveal his No. 3 quarterback), Lovie could hardly hold back his excitement when asked an ''off-track'' question about cornerback Corey Graham, who leads the team with 10 special teams tackles.

''I don't think that's off-track at all,'' Smith said. ''I should have been talking about it a little bit more. It seems like we've always had one player that really kind of stood out around here on special teams. Corey is definitely that guy right now. Every week he's played, he's been right at the top as far as points are concerned. Play after play, outstanding play by him -- Pro Bowl-type play from him at that position. So we're pretty excited about that.''

Now, about that offensive line ...