LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — Chicago Bears strong
safety Chris Harris is requesting a trade after being benched for Sunday's game
against the Minnesota Vikings.
Harris' agent, Albert Elias, said the Bears have
granted him permission to seek a deal, adding that Harris "wanted to help
somebody win." He didn't have any concrete offers by midday Monday because
he had just received the OK from Chicago.
"Does that mean we're going to get somewhere?
No," Elias said.
Harris, in his second stint with the Bears, was
inactive for Chicago's 39-10 victory over the Vikings after struggling in a
loss at Detroit last week. Before that, he missed three games with a hamstring
injury.
"Chris will probably tell you, the Detroit
game he wasn't 100 percent," coach Lovie Smith said. "Whether he's
100 percent or not, I'm basing it on what I thought was best for our
team."
He said he simply wanted to shake things up in the
secondary so he went with Major Wright at strong safety and Chris Conte at free
safety over Brandon Meriweather, who was active but did not play. Smith also
pointed out that Harris is not a special teams contributor, another reason why
he was not in uniform on Sunday night.
"Nobody loses their job so quickly,"
Smith said. "There's a period of time that you go through, and for us, I
as a head football coach felt like I knew what Chris was. (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 the production that you have when you're out there. I feel
pretty comfortable with the decision I made."
As for a possible trade, Elias said: "If it's
not a win-win for (general manager Jerry Angelo) and Chris, we're going to just
be professional."
He said Harris would like a spot in the rotation.
If he can't get one with another team, then he'll stay with the Bears.
"He loves Chicago," Elias said.
Defensive end Israel Idonije said he doesn't think
Harris' trade request will be a distraction for the Bears, who at 3-3 are
trying to dig themselves out of an early hole in the NFC North. They trail
unbeaten Green Bay by three games and Detroit by two with losses to both teams.
"We love Chris," Idonije said. "He's
a great player, and he's one of those guys that knows what we're doing. He
knows the defense. He's a leader out there, and a communicator on the defense.
But the business aspect of the game — guys have to manage their own businesses
and take care of themselves — it's a challenging situation that he's in. But
despite that, the guys that are in the game, the guys that get an opportunity
to play, they've got to make plays and continue to play at a high level."
Copyright
2011 The Associated Press.
(AP
Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)
