Soldier Field turf 'is what it is'

The playing surface at Soldier Field has been criticized for several weeks, and it's not getting any better.

Middle linebacker Brian Urlacher summed it up best: “It stinks for both teams.”

“Both teams have to play on it,” Urlacher said. “It's the same way in Pittsburgh; that field is not that great either. It goes both ways. It wasn't bad (Sunday).”

The soft footing makes for a slow track, and the wheat-colored grass lacks aesthetic appeal, but it didn't prevent tight end Greg Olsen from catching 3 passes for 113 yards Sunday, including a 58-yard TD.

“It is what it is,” Olsen said. “It's the middle of January in Chicago. We've had a lot of snow and cold and whatnot. You don't have to be a scientist to realize grass doesn't grow in this condition. So they try to maintain it the best they can.

“(Sunday) it snowed pretty much throughout the game, which makes it wet, and you've got 22 guys on a play running around digging it up. So by the end of the game, it's a little sloppy and chopped up.”

The Packers came to town early this season, on Sept. 27, but in the previous six seasons, they've played here in December.

“Should I criticize it even more?” Packers wide receiver Greg Jennings said. “No, it's rough. It's probably one of the worst in the league.

“You have to go out before the game and get a feel for what you're dealing with, get your footing, because that's going to play a huge, huge role in the game.

“But you can't allow that to affect the way you play. It plays into the game only if you allow it to.”

Seen enough:

Coach Lovie Smith said he hasn't studied the tape of the Packers' 48-21 destruction of the Falcons yet, but he already knows his team will have its hands full.

“As you watch what they did against the No. 1 seed, you have to like the way they're playing,” Smith said. “Aaron Rodgers is a great quarterback. Like Jay (Cutler), he can do all the things you want a good quarterback to do, whether it's running the ball or making all of the throws.”

In addition to his NFC-best 101.2 passer rating, Rodgers was second behind Philadelphia's Michael Vick among NFC quarterbacks with 356 rushing yards, and he had an impressive 5.6-yard average per carry.

Cutler was third with 232 rushing yards and averaged 4.6 yards per attempt.

“In the running game, (James) Starks is really giving them a boost,” Smith added, “and we could talk quite a bit about their receivers. They have five that they can go with at any time.”

Good experience:

Coach Lovie Smith believes his team will benefit from playing its starters for the entire game in the regular-season-ending 10-3 loss to the Packers, even though they failed to prevent Green Bay from making the playoffs.

“Hopefully we got some things from that game, and I think we did, just seeing our team going on the road in a tough environment,” Smith said.

“Just getting in a playoff atmosphere where your opponent is trying to win to advance, to just go through a tough game like that before you take a break.”

“Just to see our guys and how they would respond to it, knowing that we didn't have a lot that we were playing for, except that it was Green Bay. And our guys went up there and played their heart out.

“We were beaten that day by the better team, but we know more about the opponent we're playing. It has to help us, as I'm sure they're saying the same thing.”