Getting last week off has gotten defensive tackle Tommie Harris in a good frame of mind.
There's a good chance that had as much to do with his own little bye week as much as his left knee, and now he's ready to roll Sunday against the Cleveland Browns.
"Yeah, greatly,'' Harris said when asked if the time off helped. ``It helped a lot.
"[Lovie Smith] knows what I can do, and everybody knows what I can do. I don't have to prove anything to anybody. It's all about I prove it to myself, I owe it to my teammates, I owe it to this organization to get back to tip-top shape, so that's what I'm doing.''
Asked about his chronic left knee, Harris said "I don't even think that was an issue,'' lending more credence to the theory that Harris was sat down by Smith as a wakeup call two weeks after the Bears had a real bye week. The Sun-Times reported on Monday that Harris said his knee was not the reason for the benching last Sunday at Cincinnati when the Bears were blown out 45-10 in one of the worst performances of the Smith era.
Harris is fine with the expectations that have been placed on him, and understands the scrutiny.
Defensive tackle Tommie Harris is practicing for the first time on a Wednesday this season, but end Adewale Ogunleye is sidelined with an ankle injury that must have been suffered in the loss at Cincinnati.
Harris was benched last week by coach Lovie Smith, who was very direct Monday when he said that Harris would need to be on the practice field. He is expected to start on Sunday vs. Cleveland.
The players were loose and talkative during the beginning of practice when media was allowed to survey the action, a sign that they've put the 35-point loss to the Bengals behind them.
Tommie Harris was right on the money Sunday after the game in Cincinnati when he said the condition of his left knee had nothing to do with him sitting out the game.
Lovie Smith confirmed as much at his press conference this afternoon when he said that it was his decision for Harris to sit out last week and the game with an eye toward getting Harris energized for the remainder of the season. The message Harris sent was very clear: If you want to play, you need to practice. Harris has been taking Wednesday practices off, and last week Smith said enough is enough, take the week off.
Harris told the Sun-Times on Sunday that it wasn't true he missed the game because of pain in his left knee.
"There isn't anything wrong with Tommie,'' Smith said. "It was more a coach's decision as much as anything. I thought we had better options.
"Could Tommie have played if I wanted him to? Yes, but I thought we could get a better Tommie if we let him rest.''
It marks two bye weeks in a span of three weeks for Harris. The underlying tone was Smith wants to see more from Harris on the practice field and on Sundays. It's a catch-22 the Bears and Harris are in. He needs to practice more to become better as a player, but he also needs to rest to preserve his left knee. A team source said he received extra treatments on his knee last week, and Smith said repeatedly he was dealing with pain. There is not a new injury.
We will see if Bears coach Lovie Smith moves to take some of the guesswork out of the Tommie Harris' situation when his press conference begins in a little less than 90 minutes.
Know this: There's been considerable guesswork with members of the organization, Harris included, saying completely different stories about him missing Sunday's 45-10 loss at Cincinnati.
The belief is that Harris was inactive for the game--and three practices last week--because the Bears made an organizational decision to rest Harris. He had been experiencing pain in his left knee, as Smith said repeatedly last week. He did receive extra treatments on the knee as a team source said. Finally, he has not been playing up to the expectations the team holds for him, so combining all three factors, a decision was made to sit him out of the game vs. the Bengals.
Harris told the Sun-Times after the game Sunday that he did not sit out because of pain in the knee, and pointed out that he worked out on the Pal Brown Stadium turf prior to kickoff.
CINCINNATI--I'm pushing off to the airport here very soon but I wanted to put together some contrasting takes on the situation involving Tommie Harris and why he did not play Sunday in the 45-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
That's because this story is becoming more bizarre. I wrote about it here in the print and online edition of the newspaper but want to use this space to tie together the comments by the men involved and let their words speak.
First, here is what we know: Harris did not practice any day last week. Coach Lovie Smith said following the loss at Atlanta that Harris was dealing with soreness in his chronic left knee. He was listed on the injury report all week, and was classified as doubtful Friday afternoon when the final report came out.
Harris did some work on the field at Paul Brown Stadium about two hours before kickoff, not unlike work rehabbing players do from time to time before games even when they're not playing. It didn't look to be anything too rigorous. He was in shorts and a T-shirt. Anyway, let's back up to last week first.
General manager Jerry Angelo appeared on WSCR 670-AM last Thursday morning, before Harris had missed his second practice of the week, and was asked about the player:
"Tommie is healthy. That is not an issue,'' Angelo said.
"We've seen the flashes during the games. So I feel good he has the physical traits to continue to be a top rusher and really that is what we're looking for Tommie to do. On Sunday, we haven't seen the consistency, I think he would say the same thing. Parts are there but again the tape is the tape. We'll continue to coach him and monitor him. Hopefully we're going to see the things he can do on a real basis for four quarters.''
Tommie Harris was decked out in sweatpants and a sweatshirt as practice was getting started this morning in the Walter Payton Center.
The veteran defensive tackle has missed the last two days of practice with his left knee flaring up. The Bears began the Friday session with special teams work, so it's still possible Harris does some work today if he changes into his gear, but he didn't have his helmet nearby. The media is only allowed to watch a brief stretching period in the beginning of practice.
Harris had taken off Wednesday practices earlier this season but missed on a Thursday yesterday for the first time. Harris underwent arthroscopic surgery on the left knee during the offseason and did very little work in training camp although the camp session began with coach Lovie Smith announcing Harris was 100 percent.
Tommie Harris was decked out in sweatpants and a sweatshirt as practice was getting started this morning in the Walter Payton Center.
The veteran defensive tackle has missed the last two days of practice with his left knee flaring up. The Bears began the Friday session with special teams work, so it's still possible Harris does some work today if he changes into his gear, but he didn't have his helmet nearby. The media is only allowed to watch a brief stretching period in the beginning of practice.
Harris had taken off Wednesday practices earlier this season but missed on a Thursday yesterday for the first time. Harris underwent arthroscopic surgery on the left knee during the offseason and did very little work in training camp although the camp session began with coach Lovie Smith announcing Harris was 100 percent.
I examined the playing time for defensive tackle Tommie Harris in a story in today's edition.
The Bears have been careful using him in 2009, going all the way back to minicamp in March when Harris was given the last day of the three-day session off. It hasn't impacted his time on the field when it counts, though. Harris is actually playing more (or a greater percentage of the time) through two games than he did in 2008.
2009 1st two games--80 of 113 snaps, 70.8 percent
2008 1st two games--82 of 121 snaps, 67.8 percent
Thus far, it has worked out just like coach Lovie Smith said he was planning in the rotation. The Bears want to ensure that Harris is fresh for important situations--passing downs and crunch time in the second half. On Sunday vs. Pittsburgh, 27 of Harris' 44 snaps came in the second half.
"You start from there and you work from there,'' Smith said of the numbers so far. "All of our defensive linemen that we dress, we feel comfortable playing them. Situations will warrant maybe Tommie playing a little bit more. You kind of see how the game goes but we don't want him to play 100 percent of the time like we don't want any of our defensive linemen to play 100 percent of the time if we can get away from it.
"We haven't played the type of defense we want to play. Tommie is a part of that. We haven't gotten enough takeaways. Our third downs were too high last week. There are some things we have to correct but they are working hard. There is no reason not to believe we will improve and Tommie will lead the way.''
Playing time with Harris has always been worth noting. For starters, he's at the signature position in the Tampa Two scheme, but Smith has always preached the use of a healthy and well-oiled rotation. Second, Harris' contract has clauses in it that are tied directly to playing time. Harris was on the field for only 56.08 percent of the time last season (623 of 1,111 snaps). That was tops among the tackles on the roster, but the figure was reduced because he missed one game with an injury and was suspended for a second game. A rough estimate is Harris would have been on the field for 64 percent of the snaps last if you project him over 16 games, so it's easy to see he's being used a little more than that right now.
BOURBONNAIS, Ill.--Tommie Harris unraveled the riddle Monday afternoon after sitting out another day of practice at Olivet Nazarene University.
He's all suited up with nothing to do on the sideline because he's coming off knee surgery and has a hamstring injury. Perhaps tired of dealing with inquiries wondering why he has not been on the field for a week, Harris revealed that he underwent arthroscopic surgery on his bothersome left knee in March. The procedure was done in order to see why it has continued to plague him, and the good news is he said they found on scar tissue. Harris originally had arthroscopic surgery on the knee in January 2008, six months before his $40 million, four-year contract extension.
"I had surgery in March so I didn't get a chance to do a lot of stuff that the teammates were doing, so they're far ahead of me so I'm really just starting to catch up,'' Harris said. "I would love to be out there, but I do so much in the weight room and all the training and all the other stuff that you guys don't see. The hardest thing is, knowing how political this business is, and having to wear pads and sit on the sideline acting like I'm going out there and different stuff like that, but it's a bit frustrating but I'm going to hang in there and just see how it plays out.
Now, Harris says he is on the sideline because he suffered a hamstring injury. That is the kind of thing that can happen when a knee isn't right--a player can then be plagued by muscle problems with the hamstring or quad. Lovie Smith had said Saturday that Harris would practice today.
"I have confidence in myself -- a lot, in my knee, my whole body. I've been playing on one leg and everything. I can play this game, I have confidence. It's a mentality, and that's the hardest thing to go out there and to know, to get your mind ready for a practice or different things that you're used to just going out and having fun. I'm just hanging in there.''
Israel Idonije filled in with the first team at the under tackle, and coach Lovie Smith was vague about a timetable for Harris. He made it clear he wants to wait until his former Pro Bowl performer is healthy, and they need him in September more than they need him in August. But with the pattern of rotating hamstring and knee injuries--remember he had hamstring surgery in December 2006--it's fair to wonder if Harris has the time to get his body right before the season.
BOURBONNAIS, Ill.--Marcus Harrison continues to make progress on the side while on the non-football injury list and the defensive tackle is hopeful he'll be cleared for a return by Saturday when the Bears will practice at Soldier Field during Family Day.
Harrison has missed four practices and one mini-practice thus far with Anthony Adams and Dusty Dvoracek dividing the reps at nose tackle in his absence. Harrison reported to camp at 322, 10 pounds above the weight he said he played at last season. It's a combination of weight and body fat percentage that the team wants him to drop, especially after he had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in May.
Some notes from the afternoon session:
The Bears are entering the most difficult days of training camp where their bodies are starting to feel fatigued after five weeks off. The session Monday afternoon probably reflected that somewhat, and quarterback Jay Cutler certainly was not as accurate as he has been, although he did lead the first offense into position for a 53-yard Robbie Gould field goal in the two-minute drills. Some quick notes from the workout:
Lance Briggs, Hunter Hillenmeyer and Matt Toeania all returned to work.
Jamar Williams did a nice job taking on fullback Jason Davis in inside run drills.
I've spent four weeks here analyzing some of the things I'll be looking when when the whistle blows at 3 p.m. Friday and the Bears get rolling with their first practice of the season. Now it's time to turn over some space to the trained eye of Tom Thayer, who lists his occupation on his IRS paperwork every April as a "football describer.''
Thayer, the color analyst for WBBM-780 AM, will be at training camp and will offer daily updates for the Bears' flagship station. Here is what Thayer offered:
"There are three things I will be looking at and one of them is the free agents, the newcomers, [Jay] Cutler, Pisa [Tinoisamoa], [Orlando] Pace, big Frank [Omiyale], [Kevin] Shaffer, [Josh] Bullocks, these guys that came in. I want to start looking at those guys and see if they really are what they are, if they're going to fit in, what they're going to do to the team and how they're changing it. Then, I have a key selection of veterans who have been here already who are on the roster who I really want to pay attention to to see if they re-emerge, if they're playing like they did last year, if they're not involved in the betterment of the football team the way they should be due to their position on the roster and with the team and all that. My guys here are [Nathan] Vasher, [Brian] Urlacher, Tommie [Harris], Kevin Jones, Wale [Ogunleye], Nick Roach.
"And then [Johnny] Knox, [Juaquin] Iglesias and D.J. Moore are some rookies I want to watch. I think Moore may have a place. He is one of the three guys of the rooks I am looking at who may need to come in and just provide interest. Just to see if they can help in any way. There is a specific group and positioning of players that I am interested in looking at first. Then I think if you are looking at a position specifically, I still have concerns about the safety position. I like Kevin Payne but there is a battle for all other interior defensive back positions. Payne is only going to be pushed by himself. He is a guy who has to stay healthy. You can go out there and Kevin Payne can show flashes of brilliance and then he can pop his head in there and come out, get dinged, and you're back to square one. My only issue with Kevin Payne is durability.''
A week before players are due to report to training camp, Rod Marinelli says that Tommie Harris is ready to go.
The new defensive line coach and assistant head coach chatted with Thomas George at NFL.com and said Harris was not 100 percent last season when missed one game by injury and didn't consistently play at the dominant level the team had been accustomed to seeing at the center of the defense. Harris had five sacks, one behind team leader Alex Brown, and nine tackles for loss, third on the defense. But statistics are never the best measure for Harris' performance. It's about him being a disruptive force on the line, one that commands a double team often. When he's doing that, those around him are much better.
"Tommie is strong, motivated, bright, perfect for the system," Marinelli said. "He was banged up last year. He seems pretty healthy. He's done it. This group is going to compete. It is exciting to see them come together."
