Saw this in the Sun-Times

Tricky_Falcon · Post by **Tricky_Falcon** » Thu Aug 03, 2006 9:54 am

Nothing much but the last line mentions Pope.

The Bears wrapped up their first week of practice with running back Thomas Jones still on the sideline because of a pulled right hamstring. Jones was injured while running in a physical before the first practice of camp last Thursday, and he probably will be out another seven to 10 days. That will give Cedric Benson more time to show what he can do. Jones might miss the first two exhibition games, and you can bet you will know all about fourth-stringer P.J. Pope by then.

UK Peregrine · Post by **UK Peregrine** » Thu Aug 03, 2006 10:53 am

Yeah, I've been following Pope pretty closely. With TJ being out and Benson having a knee problem the other day as well, Pope saw significant reps on offense. The quote from Lovie when talking about the Bear's backup RBs was, “We got Pope some reps. He’s a good football player."

bgmaggot00 · Post by **bgmaggot00** » Thu Aug 03, 2006 7:36 pm

Sweet. I'm a big Bears fan, and wish him the best of luck. With Jones' whining so far this season, I'm hoping that Pope gets all the opportunity in the world, but I 'm pretty certain that they won't dump a 1,300 yd. rusher go for PJ. Go Bears.

Falconfreak90 · Post by **Falconfreak90** » Thu Aug 03, 2006 11:04 pm

I always thought Pope had a good shot to make the NFL> He is a very versatile player and does many things well. I'd love to see him make the roster in Chi Town!

BGSUVA · Post by **BGSUVA** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 12:45 am

Cut Benson, he blows, if TJ isn't healthy then start Pope (or atleast have him back up Peterson)...If your running back is 99% of your pitiful offense, you don't use the #4 pick in the draft on an overrated running back coached by Mack Brown. I don't know why the Bears and Cubs have such horrible GMs. two straight years I've had a better day 1 of my mock draft than the real Bears did.

hammb · Post by **hammb** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 8:51 am

BGSUVA wrote:Cut Benson, he blows, if TJ isn't healthy then start Pope (or atleast have him back up Peterson)...If your running back is 99% of your pitiful offense, you don't use the #4 pick in the draft on an overrated running back coached by Mack Brown. I don't know why the Bears and Cubs have such horrible GMs. two straight years I've had a better day 1 of my mock draft than the real Bears did.

Haha! Cut Benson!? I'm sure you're joking, but wow.

I agree it was a terrible pick, I thought he was light years behind the two guys from Auburn, and would have been behind DeAngelo Williams as well had he come out. Benson was nothing special in college, just a plodder behind a great line.

Still, you cannot cut a top 5 pick this soon. The Salary cap implications are enormous and would force them to cut multiple other players just to get in under the cap. The bears are stuck with Benson until his first optional bonus comes due. Then they can decline the bonus and let him walk with no salary cap implications.

UK Peregrine · Post by **UK Peregrine** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 9:53 am

The news out of Bear's camp is that they signed RB Andre Hall from USF to the team. Hall is in camp to supply another RB body for practice with TJ out and Benson having some knee issues.

As for practice the other day, the reports are that PJ got hammered on goal-line work by Joe Odom, but still managed to score the touchdown. Go PJ!

BGSUVA · Post by **BGSUVA** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 11:31 pm

Of course they aren't going to, I don't think they really should (but I do tihnk Pope will be just as beneficial to the team as Benson)...But good news out of camp: http://www.chicagobears.com/news/newsDe ... p?id=16412 BENSON IS down! Now Pope really has a good shot to show his stuff, and hopefully we wont have to hear any more silly talk about bears trading TJ.

UK Peregrine · Post by **UK Peregrine** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 9:58 am

"P.J. Pope will get the next shot at carrying the ball and could be in the game for as much as two quarters. He figures had it not been for an injury-plagued senior season at Bowling Green, more people might know who he is. Injuries sidelining Cedric Benson (left shoulder) and Thomas Jones (right hamstring) figure to provide Pope with an opportunity to showcase himself through at least the first two preseason games.

He suffered a high left ankle sprain on the first day of contact in camp at Bowling Green last summer, and then was rolled up on and re-injured the left ankle and sprained the right in the season-opening shootout loss at Wisconsin. Pope managed just 436 yards and four touchdowns as a senior, but finished as the school's third all-time leading rusher.

''I would expect a heavy workload, but you never know, we'll see,'' the 5-9, 212-pounder said. ''I've heard that [it will be an audition for all 32 teams]. I'm just trying to go out Friday and the rest of the preseason games and do my best and see what happens from there.

''I'm just trying to take the opportunity here and run with it.''

Pope does one thing well, and that's catch the ball out of the backfield, something the Bears like. He's the only player from Bowling Green to rush for more than 3,000 yards and have more than 1,000 receiving yards.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/bears/cs ... rnt07.html

1987alum · Post by **1987alum** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:20 am

Boy, P.J. would look great here in Philly. The Birds are so painfully thin at RB. And the offense is perfect for P.J.

UK Peregrine · Post by **UK Peregrine** » Wed Aug 09, 2006 10:28 am

Here's the first Pope picture I've ran across in a Bears uniform.

jacojdm · Post by **jacojdm** » Wed Aug 09, 2006 10:36 am

1987alum wrote:Boy, P.J. would look great here in Philly. The Birds are so painfully thin at RB. And the offense is perfect for P.J.

Tony Grossi today speculates in a story that the Browns are considering trading a spare running back (I doubt it'd be Green...more likely Suggs) for the Eagles for Hank Fraley. Rob Hallen went AWOL yesterday looking for a second opinion on his back troubles, and he may retire.