Offensive position coaches share thoughts

[Staley Da Bear]

Wide receivers need short memories: Receivers coach Mike Furrey talked about dealing with frustration in his position group. He drew a comparison between some of his players and teaching his 12-year-old son the reality of sports.


"I hate to use this example," said Furrey, "but my son last night missed a layup in a basketball game, and all of a sudden, he wants to be frustrated because he's not scoring points. Michael Jordan missed baskets. I’ve never seen quarterbacks go 100 percent completion percentage in games. They're going to miss throws."


Furrey said that it was up to the receivers to make life easier on quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, singling out Taylor Gabriel as an example for better or worse.


"Like last night," said Furrey, "Turbo had the deep cross on the deep over, big third-down play in the beginning of the game. Dropped the ball. That's not Mitch's fault. That's our fault."


Furrey said that Gabriel had been an excellent example of putting his mistakes behind him, rectifying his earlier drop by catching a 24-yard touchdown in the third quarter on a similar route. Furrey said that Gabriel’s precision on that play demonstrated how far the 28-year-old speedster has come as a route runner.


"You have to have just as short of a memory as DBs do when they get beat when you're not getting the football," said Furrey. "You better line back up and get ready to go because if you're sitting there pouting about not getting the football and the football comes to you, you're not being the player that we want you to be."


Braunecker adds a spark: Tight end Ben Braunecker stepped into a more prominent role against the Lions with Adam Shaheen being inactive. Braunecker made the most of the opportunity, scoring the first touchdown by a Bears tight end this season.


What does the four-year pro bring to the table?


"Speed," said tight end coach Kevin Gilbride. "He's got a lot of physical attributes to him, but speed is his number one."


Braunecker has spent most of the season third on the depth chart, but with Trey Burton dealing with nagging injuries, he may provide a spark filling in for either Burton or Shaheen.


"He's always had to know every role," said Gilbride. "He's got to know the inline ‘Y’ position. He's got to know the ‘U’ position. He needs to know everything, and he's thrown in, at times, at every role. We just felt that he was the best matchup for that particular route concept."