Bears' passing attack features tough matchups

Q. Why, specifically, has the offense been so much more productive with Brian Griese?

A. Ball distribution has been one thing. As ineffective as the running game has been, they're getting enough of an influence from it to open up play-action possibilities.

And it's tough to match up with the Bears when they get into third-and-5 or less and you put Dez Clark, Greg Olsen, Devin Hester and Bernard Berrian on the field. How many teams have the personnel to match up with that group of receivers plus the other guys who can touch the ball?

You're going to have to put a safety or an undersized linebacker on Olsen or Dez, and then you're going to have to put a limited speed guy on Berrian.

With the catches that Devin has been making, you have to start giving him respect as a receiver. You're going to have to put a better cover guy on him because, if he does catch it against a second-tier corner in space, he's gone.

By distributing the ball to more players, there are more influences that the Bears' offense can put on the field.

Q. Some Bears have had problems with the media this season. Are players more sensitive now than when you played?

A. No. They're sensitive in any era. They were probably just as sensitive back then, but you didn't hear about it because there weren't as many media outlets.

Walter Payton was a very moody guy behind closed doors in the locker room. He was the greatest teammate of all time, but he was a sensitive guy; every one of us were.

If you read or hear negative criticism about yourself, it makes you even more sensitive, especially if it comes from someone who doesn't understand everything that's involved in getting on the field on Sunday. The body soreness you're playing with; getting scolded by the coaches after the game.

And it spills over to your family. For me, being a local guy who grew up in Joliet, you're reading every newspaper in the area, and my mom and my family would read negative criticism and they'd take it personally, too.

Q. Was it unfair to criticize Brian Urlacher for subpar performances against the Vikings and Cowboys?

A. I think Urlacher was overly criticized for a bad Bears team effort. When you look at the way he played last week and in other games when Briggs and Tillman were injured, Urlacher's been playing his (butt) off.

Against Minnesota, it was a poor team performance up and down the line. Everyone who played a defensive snap should be criticized for allowing Adrian Peterson to do that to them. The criticism should go to Urlacher and every one of this teammates for the Minnesota game.

Q. Does Urlacher look like a guy who's playing with an injury?

A. I don't see it at all. Everybody lives with soreness every day throughout the season, and on Sunday, when your adrenaline gets going, it kind of filters out.

Q. How did you feel as a player when a teammate didn't go out on the field unless he was 100 percent?

A. We had guys in the locker room who would keep every guy accountable. You also had a feeling of one for all and all for one, that if we were capable of playing, no matter what it took to get on the field, with the medical technology, you could play.

I've been jabbed by needles all over my body to play on Sunday, and that's just one of the commitments you make as a professional athlete.

As soon as the season starts, you're never going to feel 100 percent, but how mentally tough are you to go out and do what's required of you? But, for instance, if you're a quarterback with a bad right elbow, then you have to be smart enough to make the call and say, "I'll be hurting my team if I go out there."

Q. Was there more pressure back then to play?

A. With Mike Ditka being there (as coach), if you felt that you could take a day off, then you were really in jeopardy of losing your job.

Q. Is it easier for a guy who gets millions of dollars up front to take a week off if he doesn't feel great?

A. If it's easy for a guy to take a week off, then shame on him. It should never be easy to take a week off when it's a regular-season game.

You should do everything in your power to get yourself on the field. If you're confident and comfortable about taking a week off, I don't want you on my team.