Briggs makes it clear he wants to be a Bear

Lance Briggs speaks.

After months of almost complete silence, the Bears' two-time Pro Bowl linebacker ended his media boycott Wednesday following some prompting from the league.

"Apparently somebody (in the media) went to the league and told them that I wasn't talking," Briggs said. "So (I was told), 'You ought to come over here and say something.' "

The only previous time Briggs had addressed the media since the spring was following his one-car accident Aug. 27, and Wednesday he was vague regarding the reasons for his silence.

But he believes he talked too much regarding his displeasure at being given the franchise tag by the Bears in February. That effectively kept him off the free-agent market, where he would have received the long-term deal he sought, along with a signing bonus in the $15 million range.

Instead, he is playing for $7.2 million this year.

Briggs was quoted back then as saying he'd "never play for the Bears," that he would "sit out the season," and later that he would sit out the first 10 games.

He said he was misquoted at times but refused to offer any specific instances.

"There were a lot of things that apparently I said that didn't come out of my mouth," Briggs said. "Enough things were said in the off-season for me to know that I need to keep my mouth shut.

"The stuff that happened in the off-season was business. Regardless of how much you love the sport and how much you enjoy being on the field and playing, when you step off of that field you have to remember that this is a business."

Briggs, who turned down a six-year, $33 million offer from the Bears in April 2006, said he's still bitter that he didn't get the long-term deal he believes he deserved from the Bears, who drafted him in the third round in 2003.

"Back then, yeah, I was hurt," Briggs said. "But it's in the past. It was a decision that was made. There's nothing I can do about it. Now I'm happy to be here."

The Bears are even happier, especially after Briggs' career-best 19-tackle performance at Green Bay on Sunday night that included 15 solo tackles.

"The guy continues to amaze all of us, especially since he hadn't run in two weeks, then he goes out there and plays like that coming off a (hamstring) injury," fellow linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer said. "To be able to put up those numbers and make those tackles, especially some of those open-field tackles, those are the hardest ones to make. He makes it look easy."

It's what the Bears have come to expect from Briggs, a starter since the fourth game of his rookie season and a Pro Bowl pick the past two years. His absence in Week 4 this season was the first of his career.

"Every game that he's played for us this year, he's performed at that level," coach Lovie Smith said. "We were a different defense when he wasn't out there. He's a consistently good football player, period.

"He's a big part of the success we've had here. He's had as much to do with it as any of our good players. We would like to keep all of our good players around here forever."

That's why Briggs doesn't understand why he hasn't been rewarded with a long-term deal like many of his teammates, including Brian Urlacher, Charles Tillman and Nate Vasher.

"I've proved myself and proven that this is what I want to do," Briggs said. "This is where I love to be, and I'm an integrated part of this family. We're a family here, and we built this together. I've never understood a reason to break this up."

So why not make a renewed effort to lock him up for the long run?

General manager Jerry Angelo used the $33 million that Briggs turned down to lock up other players and has implied that the offer was a take-it-or-leave deal.

But Angelo also has said he'd never close the door on the Briggs situation, although it's clear the Bears are not going to break the bank to keep him.

"I'd love to be here," Briggs said. "I've always wanted to be here. Regardless of what I've said, I've always wanted to be here. Unfortunately that was something that was decided over the off-season, that I wasn't in the long-term plans."

If the Bears change their minds, Briggs insists he'd love to stay here.

"Absolutely," he said. "Absolutely."