Bears safety Chris Harris asks to be traded
Even though safety Chris Harris went from starter to inactive to requesting a trade in seven days, Bears coach Lovie Smith claims his demotion wasn’t a snap decision.
“Nobody loses their job so quickly,” Smith said. “There is a period of time that you go through and for us, I as the head football coach, felt like I knew what Chris was, (and I) wanted to get a chance to see what some of our other players could do. No more than that.
“Your play is based on production that you have when you’re out there. I feel pretty comfortable with the decision I made.”
But Harris isn’t comfortable is his nonexistent playing role, and his agent, Albert Elias, has received permission from Bears general manager Jerry Angelo to seek a trade by Tuesday’s 3 p.m. deadline, a story first reported by ESPNChicago.com.
The Bears are unlikely to get much in compensation for Harris, 29, even though he tied for the team lead with 5 interceptions last season.
The seven-year veteran missed three weeks with a hamstring injury before returning for the Week 5 game, in which his play was deemed inadequate against the Lions.
Major Wright, the Bears’ third-round draft pick in 2010 started in place of Harris on Sunday night and had 4 tackles. He is seventh on the Bears with 27 tackles.
Monday afternoon, Smith said he had not spoken to Harris regarding a trade.
“I don’t get into much of that stuff,” Smith said. “Chris was there on the sideline (Sunday night) being ‘Coach’ Harris as much as anything, helping his football team win. That’s the last time I saw Chris. I don’t know a whole lot more than that.
“He’s a part of our football team, one of our 53 guys. During the course of the season, you can’t dress everyone each game. There are some inactive players each week.
“We make those decisions based on a lot of things. In Chris’ case, at the safety position if you’re not playing a lot on regular downs it’s about special teams.”
Harris does not have a role on special teams.
We have a plan:The Tampa Bay Bucs left for London on Monday, but the Bears won#146;t leave until Thursday night after practicing at Halas Hall in the afternoon.Coach Lovie Smith has considered different itineraries that other teams have used in preparation for international games and doesn#146;t believe adjusting to the time change in time for the Sunday game will be a problem.London time is six hours ahead of Chicago so, while the game will be broadcast at noon Sunday on FOX, it will be 6 p.m. in England.#147;I don#146;t think that#146;s going to be much of an issue,#148; Smith said. #147;We#146;re going to go there earlier than we normally would (for a road game). But it#146;s a business trip for us.#147;We didn#146;t go over there earlier because we want to go through our same game-week routine with our practice field, with our equipment, our meeting rooms, all of that, and do what we normally do when we play a road game. Go out in the week and play the game. That#146;s how we#146;re looking at that game.#148;Not to worry:After scoring on a 98-yard kickoff return and a 48-yard reception, Devin Hester left the field in the fourth quarter with a chest injury and did not return. He was available to the media after one of his most spectacular games.#147;Whenever Devin Hester isn#146;t on the field and doesn#146;t finish, I#146;m concerned,#148; coach Lovie Smith said. #147;But we weren#146;t too concerned about it, and we aren#146;t still. It shouldn#146;t be serious. We#146;re going to put it in the bumps-and-bruises section.#148;Tight end Kellen Davis (elbow), added to the injury report late last week, reinjured himself during Sunday#146;s game while catching 2 passes for 27 yards. He is expected to play this week.ŸFollow Bob#146;s Bears reports via Twitter @Bob LeGere and check out our Bear Essentials blog at dailyherald.com.