Urlacher, Peppers, Briggs, Hester earn Pro Bowl honors
After a three-year absence, Brian Urlacher has been voted to the Pro Bowl for the seventh time.
The defensive leader for the NFC North division champions will have lots of company with teammates Julius Peppers (sixth appearance), Lance Briggs (six straight appearances), and return specialist Devin Hester. It will be Hester's third trip to the Pro Bowl.
Urlacher made the trip to Hawaii in each of his first four seasons but missed out in 2004 when injuries forced him to miss seven games. He returned in 2004 and '05 but was left off in '06, even though he had 158 tackles, 5 sacks and 5 interceptions.
This season Urlacher bounced back big time from last year's dislocated wrist injury that caused him to miss 15 games. He leads the Bears in total tackles (141), solo tackles (87), tackles for loss (11), pass breakups (13) and fumble recoveries (3). He also has 3½ sacks, 2 forced fumbles and an interception.
In his first season with the Bears, Peppers is tied with Israel Idonije for the team lead with 8 sacks, and he has a huge lead with 23 quarterback pressures, 1 more than the next three players combined. Peppers, recognized as an elite pass rusher at defensive end for almost a decade, also has been a major force against the run, leading all Bears linemen with 48 tackles. He has also forced 3 fumbles and intercepted 2 passes.
Urlacher nominated Peppers for the NFL defensive player of the year for his ability to make those around him better because of the constant double-team attention he demands from opponents.
“He plays the run phenomenal,” Urlacher said. “People always talk about how many sacks he has and how fast he is, but he plays the run really well.
“The guy's in the backfield all the time, always in his gap disrupting (the offense).”
Hester recaptured the magic this year that he displayed in his first two seasons, when he returned 11 punts or kickoffs for touchdowns in 2006 and '07 and made the Pro Bowl both years. After a two-year TD drought, Hester has returned 3 punts for touchdowns this season, giving him the all-time NFL career record of 14 kick-return touchdowns. He leads the NFL with a 17.1-yard punt-return average, more than 3 yards better than anyone else.
Briggs missed one game with a sprained knee and was less than 100 percent in a couple others. He was still good enough at weak-side linebacker, however, to be honored in the same season as long-time LB running mate Urlacher.
Briggs was second on the Bears with 113 total tackles, 68 solo tackles and 7 tackles for loss. He also has 2 sacks, 2 interceptions and 2 forced fumbles.
Follow Bob LeGere's Bears reports via Twitter@BobLeGere. Check out his blog, Bear Essentials, at dailyherald.com.