Bears training camp capsules: Quarterbacks

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Bears QB lineup best since 1940syou could look it up
Jay Cutlers thumb is healed. New GM Phil Emery re-signed Josh McCown and added former Oakland and Washington starter Jason Campbell.
The result is easily the best quarterback depth chart since the Bears had Brian Griese and Kyle Orton behind Rex Grossman in 2006-2007 and begins training camp ranked No. 2 for the Bears all-time. The firepower at the top in Cutler clearly stamps this as the best quarterback staffing since the group of Sid Luckman, Johnny Lujack and rookie Bobby Layne in 1948.
Two of that group finished in the Hall of Fame. Thats a very longshot for any of the current corps but all three of Cutler-Campbell-McCown have starter experience and motivation to perform from the outset of training camp on. It is probably not a stretch to say that if Jason Campbell were in Chicago last year, the Bears are in the playoffs.
Our quarterback position, weve improved it, said coach Lovie Smith. Sometimes when youre a backup quarterback you go unnoticed. Jason Campbell is a good addition to our group. Josh McCown also as the third quarterback.
So I feel like were going to be able to put more points on the board, which we will have to do. The team that led the league I think averaged 35 points per game last year. We were about at 22. We have to improve on that.
2011 in review
The Bears 2011 season turned on the broken thumb suffered by Cutler in a San Diego game that was all but decided. It was the second straight season for Cutler to end the year with an injury, a trend he and the Bears need to have end. Campbell went down with a broken collarbone, did not receive much interest in free agency, and
The fall from 7-3 and a No. 5 playoff seed, at which point the Bears were sixth in the NFL averaging 26.8 points per game, to 8-8 and out of the postseason was set in motion by the injury at quarterback, a first domino in a chain that culminated in the firing of general manager Jerry Angelo.
Angelo was blamed for not staffing the quarterback position adequately behind Cutler. The irony in this lay in the fact that Angelo did not stick coaches with any player they did not want. Then-offensive coordinator Mike Martz in 2010 did not want Hanie, pressing for signing vet Todd Collins for 1 million. But after a promising two quarters in the NFC Championship game, Martz changed course and decided in 2011 that in fact he could fashion an NFL quarterback out of Hanie, insiders toldCSNChicago.com.
The problems with Hanie and Nathan Enderle, Martzs hand-picked draft choice to develop, were evident in training camp. Hanie threw as many as a half-dozen interceptions in one practice and was briefly demoted behind Enderle, whose ineptness was such that late in the season with Hanie failing, Enderle was not even deemed worth having in uniform three of the final four weeks.
Hanie, Enderle, Martz and Todd Collins are all gone.
2012 training campWhat to watch
Depth chart
1. Jay Cutler2. Jason Campbell3. Josh McCown4. Matt Blanchard
This is a position group without a significant element of competition, which is generally a good thing at the quarterback spot. Teams can split and take sides in quarterback competitions. That will not happen in this camp or preseason where the objectives are clear:
Cutlerrefine rapport with receivers, settle in with third offensive coordinator in four Chicago seasons, but now with position coach and de facto passing-game coordinator Jeremy Bates, previously with Cutler in Denver. The purpose of training camp is to take the return to Cutlers preferred offense to the next level.
Its stuff that I do well. Its stuff that I know, Cutler said. As a quarterback you want to be in the same offense over and over and over and over again so you can get a good feel for it and so you know all the nuances. This offense, I was in it three years in Denver, so this is my fourth year in it. Im very comfortable with it.
Campbellestablish viability as No. 2 in season returning from injury; use preseason as audition for 2013 free agency.
I just wanted to be somewhere you can definitely win and compete, Campbell said. At the same time I want to play but you have to understand that that position is definitely taken care of here. But it gives me an opportunity to be on a quality team where you can learn some intangibles within the team. Thats what you take it isthe most you can make out of a situation and make the best of it.
McCownprovide veteran depth in Bears offense and confirm skills in preseason.
Blanchardan undrafted rookie free agent from Wisconsin-Whitewater, Blanchard played his way during minicamps into a contract and a chance through preseason at the practice squad, Bears or other.

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