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THOMAS JONES/RB : " Rex says he'll miss Jones' protection " ~ ~ ~


kelly

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Rex says he'll miss Jones' protection

March 21, 2007

Count Bears quarterback Rex Grossman among those who'll miss departed running back Thomas Jones.In his first interview since the Super Bowl, Grossman told Comcast SportsNet on Tuesday that he owes a debt of gratitude to Jones, who was dealt to the New York Jets earlier this month.

''As a young quarterback, the hardest thing to pick up are protections and protection responsibilities, and he's just done an amazing job to help my development and clean up some of the mistakes and blocking some of the guys he's not supposed to block,'' Grossman said. ''Not only that, but just being a tough, physical runner and having an emotional attitude in the huddle, he was a great leader.''

As for Cedric Benson, who will inherit Jones' starting job, Grossman said, ''He's an amazing talent who could very well be a perennial Pro Bowler and rush for 2,000 yards and do a lot of the things that are expected out of Chicago Bears running backs.''Grossman struggled with the rainy conditions in the Bears' 29-17 Super Bowl loss to the Indianapolis Colts, throwing two fourth-quarter interceptions, losing a fumble and being sacked for an 11-yard loss after dropping the ball on a key third-down play.

''There were about four,five plays I would have done differently,'' he said. ''Obviously, in that wet weather, getting that snap was a little difficult. ... There was an interception [on a pass] to Bernard Berrian that I wish I'd have gotten out about 15 yards further. The ball kind of slipped out of my hands a little bit. ... I wish I would have handled the weather better.''

Asked about his goals for next season, Grossman said, ''I want to have at least half of the amount of interceptions [20] that I had [in 2006]. So my goal is to have single-digit interceptions and 30 touchdowns and go from there.''

Sun-Times staff

> http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/bears/305834,CST-SPT-rex21.article

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The day that we signed T.Jones as the starting running back is the day that the face of our Jets offense changed... And for the good. I think we have more in T.Jones than what we really think... This man is a leader and I really feel this Jets team is going to become a Mangini type team... Ball control, long drives to ware the D down, Clock management, Aggressive O-Line with Mangold in the run game, and solid protection for Chad from Ferguson... Chad Pennington is going to BENEFIT in a big time way having a tough RB in Jones followed by a play-makeing running back in Leon Washington, when the D is tired... This kid can do it all... Screens, Draws, Counters, Sweeps, Tosses and then the reverse to B.Smith.... Keep in mind, Coles and Cotchery are ready to have another break out season as a top notch 1-2 punch once again. I dont know if anyone thinks about this kind of stuff... But the run game of the Jets with Thomas Jones, Leon Washington, and even C.Houston inside the red-zone,goaline... Only opens up the Defense for Chad Pennington to get into a zone. I think next years Offense will be the best Offense Chad Pennington has seen... And by far the best coaching.

Mangini is doing the right thing... This is Chads team for the next 2 seasons... Lets see what he can do with it,

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And in the interests of balance I wouild point out that we got a running back who is now coming to his 4th NFL team in eight years. For one reason or another, he is a player whom none of his previous three teams knocked themselves out to keep on their roster. Two of those teams are the Cardinals and the Bucs.

He has 1000 yards only twice in his eight year career. He has achieved this on a team playing in a historically weak conference and which has a totally dominant defense to help the offense out.

We also purchased Thomas Jones at the absolute peak of the market given that he was coming off a superbowl team and at a point in time when the league is awash in unused cap dollars.

Can anyone name me any player at any positon that performed at an all pro level once he got to his 4th team? What are we expecting from him? Mid-pack NFL? Top-10 NFL?

<edited to add>

I am not totally down on this guy but I think we need to temper our expectations to a point of reasonableness

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And in the interests of balance I wouild point out that we got a running back who is now coming to his 4th NFL team in eight years. For one reason or another, he is a player whom none of his previous three teams knocked themselves out to keep on their roster. Two of those teams are the Cardinals and the Bucs.

He has 1000 yards only twice in his eight year career. He has achieved this on a team playing in a historically weak conference and which has a totally dominant defense to help the offense out.

We also purchased Thomas Jones at the absolute peak of the market given that he was coming off a superbowl team and at a point in time when the league is awash in unused cap dollars.

Can anyone name me any player at any positon that performed at an all pro level once he got to his 4th team? What are we expecting from him? Mid-pack NFL? Top-10 NFL?

<edited to add>

I am not totally down on this guy but I think we need to temper our expectations to a point of reasonableness

thanks em. i was gettin a little too buzzed & have to drive home.

you make good points no doubt. I do like the pick up though. It really boils down to a solid o-line cause we know chad cannot keep 8 men out of the box due to a rocket arm.

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thanks em. i was gettin a little too buzzed & have to drive home.

you make good points no doubt. I do like the pick up though. It really boils down to a solid o-line cause we know chad cannot keep 8 men out of the box due to a rocket arm.

As I said JoeWillie I am not totally down on the move. I really think that Jones and Houston will give us a nice meat tenderizer one-two punch and Washington will fall nicely into the Dave Megget role here. Any semblence of a running game will make Chad much more effective inside the twenties which is where many of our drives stalled last year.

My gut feel is that people will be surprized at split in carries between Jones and Houston though. I think that many people see Houston getting next to zero carries in 2007 and I see him coming in whenever we need two yards or less anywhere on the field. I see him staying in if he is effective.

All in all a substantial upgrade over Blaylowlock.

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great post dwc & thanks for posting kelly.

I agree with you that there is a very good chance tj affords chad a chance to run a very efficient offense. I have high hopes of good things offensively this year.

" . . . & thanks for posting kelly. "

you're welcome !

cheers ~ ~ ~

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As for Cedric Benson, who will inherit Jones' starting job, Grossman said, ''He's an amazing talent who could very well be a perennial Pro Bowler and rush for 2,000 yards and do a lot of the things that are expected out of Chicago Bears running backs.''

If you're Cedric benson, how are you feeling about Rex Grossman these days?:baby:

Good point - your leader on offense is showing little faith in you.

I don't think Cedric has a problem with a qb that thinks he can be a perennial pro-bowler and rush for 2,000 yards. What with having started 1 game ever and not even having 1,000 yards for his career...

It's a typical blowing smoke up everyone's ass bunch of quotes. Good job by Grossman, too bad he couldn't work his sponsors into it.

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