LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — Chicago Bears coach Lovie
Smith has said he does not try to motivate players by threatening or making
lineup changes.
His defense, however, is performing better after
some tinkering and rare public statements from the quiet Smith.
To date, Smith has benched safety Chris Harris
before cutting him, benched safety Brandon Meriweather before promoting rookie
Chris Conte and second-year player Major Wright, and publicly challenged
starting defensive tackle Henry Melton to play better. He also made veteran
defensive tackle Anthony Adams inactive for Monday's win at Philadelphia.
"He has high expectations for Henry Melton, he
has high expectations for all of us," linebacker Lance Briggs said.
Whatever Smith's intent, the defense has gotten
stouter during a four-game winning streak headed into Sunday's home game
against Detroit.
"It's happened the last couple of years,"
linebacker Brian Urlacher said about Smith — often characterized as laid-back —
making lineup changes or challenging players. "I think, if you don't play
well enough, you're probably not going to play. That's just the way it
is."
Smith has had to be more aggressive this season in
making changes to a defense that gave up 16 plays of 25 yards or longer the
first five weeks. In the last three games since an Oct. 10 loss at Detroit, the
Bears have given up just three plays of 25 yards or more.
Smith said Thursday he wasn't unhappy with Melton,
but suspected the third-year player was capable of much more after starting the
year with three sacks in three games. Melton hasn't had a sack since the third
game, but did make two tackles and disrupted several plays in the backfield
against the Eagles.
"I've been praising him so much in the
offseason and, of course, early on," Smith said. "So there are big
things that I, that we, expect from Henry. Henry played better this past week
but still he's a guy with a lot of talent and he's capable of really having one
of those great games where you're talking about him as an elite star."
Smith said Adams could find his way back to the
playing field again, but it will depend on practice this week.
"He's from Detroit, he always seems to play
well against them," Smith said. "We'll see how it goes."
Adams, a nine-year veteran and fixture in the
middle of the Bears' line, was benched in favor of rookie Stephen Paea and
veteran Matt Toeaina.
"After I watched the film from last year, now
it's kind of not the same," Adams said of his own play. "I don't have
any excuses about my play, but I've got to get better. He's (Smith) got a lot
of tough decisions he's got to make every week and he made one last week but
I'll bounce back."
Adams could return, anyway, due to injury. Toeaina,
who starts at nose tackle, missed Thursday's practice due to knee soreness.
Regardless of who plays, the Bears expect to field
a defense that should play better than the last game against Detroit. The Lions
had a 73-yard touchdown pass to Calvin Johnson, an 88-yard TD run by Jahvid
Best and a 43-yard run by Best.
In the last two games, the Bears have forced six
turnovers. They've improved from 28th against the run to 11th in a period of
five weeks.
"That whole first quarter (of the season) was
a wakeup call," Briggs said. "A lot of tough teams, a lot of tough
losses, a lot of things that happened that we didn't like. The last three it's
been, that we're making progress."
Copyright
2011 The Associated Press.
(AP
Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)
