New Bears starters should get the job done

Q. How much do the losses of Mike Brown and Dusty Dvoracek hurt the Bears' Super Bowl chances?

A. Not at all. Did those two play in the Super Bowl last season? I think it's just the truly unfortunate side of the sport because Mike Brown is one of the all-time greats as far as a person, regardless of him as a football player. Everybody pulled so hard for him and respects him so much.

It's the same with Dusty, but he's got a lot of football left. He's at the start of the rope, Mike is about two-thirds up the rope.

Q. Is there any benefit that it happened so early and it gives the team a chance to get over it and adapt to new players at those positions before the playoffs start?

A. Emotionally for the team, the guys who are still out there playing can take that next step and take a lot of time to develop with new players in those roles. It's not like getting the rug pulled out from you the week before the playoffs and then you have to make that immediate transition.

Q. Danieal Manning can't possibly provide the leadership and experience that Mike Brown did, but can he compensate by bringing other talents to the field?

A. If you ask Mike Brown the same question, he would say that Danieal Manning's the most skilled defensive back out there. As far as his cover ability, his speed and his athleticism, it's probably an upgrade from "Brownie."

There's going to be a transition period, but if Manning is smart, he's got great coaches to listen to, and he's got a player (Brown) whose brain he can pick, and he can advance his career immeasurably with this opportunity.

Q. Even if there is no drop-off from Dusty Dvoracek to Darwin Walker, is there now a depth concern?

A. Not yet, but one more injury on the inside position, then yeah, you would start having concerns.

Anthony Adams is a good player. Antonio Garay is really a guy that has to advance himself. He has to step forward and take charge of this opportunity. He has to have a mental approach and transition himself in a mature way because they're counting on him.

If he wants to be an NFL player, he's got to do it now. It's now or never for him. If he doesn't get it done now, he's probably not going to be around next year. Like George Allen said: "The future is now."

Q. What's wrong with the running game?

A. I don't think you can make a final evaluation on the running game until you let them have a home game. When you're in a hostile environment like San Diego, you don't get to initiate contact as an offense because you don't hear the snap count.

This week when the Bears' offense gets to initiate the movement of the ball, initiate the force of the play, you're going to see the running game open up a lot more. They'll be a lot better this week.

Q. Chargers linebacker Shaun Phillips and defensive end Luis Castillo insinuated that Cedric Benson is a soft runner. Do you see any evidence of that?

A. No, Cedric's not soft. The running game is a compilation of every player on offense. Look at the second-and-short, third-and-short, and fourth-and-short, when they didn't convert (in the fourth quarter). They were running their bread-and-butter play and there was penetration in the backfield.

The way you can assist Cedric is to have running plays designed with less intricacy in getting to the hole. If you go regular slant, off-tackle play, there's not a lot of fancy to it. Don't make him guess where the hole could possibly be. Let him know where the hole is going to be.

Q. Are you saying Benson is more comfortable as a straight-ahead power runner?

A. Yeah. You can make the holes simpler to be identified for now, and the other stuff will come with time. Cedric has the ability to be a bruising-type running back. Keep it simpler and he can run faster, stronger and harder. Take the fancy out of it and let him use his God-given ability.

Q. Anything especially disappointing about the loss to the Chargers?

A. A couple of the unnecessary hits on the quarterback are very avoidable, and for a healthy future (for Rex Grossman), those mistakes have to be cleared up. You can't take those abusive hits. There's got to be some recognition to those. They have to get those cured instantly.