Bears observations

More Bears: Benson's school of hard knocks

BOURBONNAIS, Ill. – The Chicago Bears' defense has really developed a cockiness – and in a good way.

While the unit seemed to have started last season as a group of relatively nondescript attitudes beyond linebacker Brian Urlacher, it's certainly not that way anymore. Listening and watching guys like Urlacher, linebacker Lance Briggs and defensive end Adewale Ogunleye on the sidelines is a little reminiscent of seeing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks and Simeon Rice when they were developing into a Super Bowl team.

There was a point with those Bucs where confidence transformed into a sort of rude how-dare-you-challenge-us attitude that made Tampa Bay great. Chicago has some of that.

• Speaking of attitude, Urlacher says he has some choice words for anyone on the team who is taking last season's playoff loss to Carolina lightly.

"I'm still pissed off about it," he said. "It was so frustrating to play the way we did – in our own stadium and in front of our own fans. … We're pretty good at getting that home-field advantage and then pissing away that first game. We should be experienced enough now to win in the playoffs. Period."

• If the Bears aren't willing to pay Briggs what he wants, someone else in the league will. There seems to be some perception that Briggs will be just another average linebacker if he isn't playing next to Urlacher – the same things were said about Rosevelt Colvin when he left for New England. It has taken Colvin 2½ years to get into his groove with the Patriots, but there are some in the league that think he could be ready to ascend to the Pro Bowl in 2006. Briggs doesn't have the same kind of game, but he has what matters in free agency: He's young, he's productive and he's still getting better. And there will be plenty of teams next season looking for a quality outside linebacker who isn't a problem child.

• Rex Grossman still is working out the kinks. He looks like what he is: a talented quarterback who hasn't had a lot of practice and game snaps for having been in the league three years. He also looks like a guy destined to be a sub-60-percent passer. But it's funny to see how the optimism in Chicago gets inflated with Grossman – even with the Bears' own media corps. At one point during Saturday night's practice, shortly after Grossman had overthrown his receivers on two routes, he drew gasps and some relatively lavish praise from a few media members after zinging a completion on an intermediate pass. One described Grossman (despite his 53.8 completion percentage) as having a "very accurate and strong arm." Maybe he meant in Grossman's career practice statistics. On the bright side, it's not like it doesn't happen in other cities. One media member in St. Louis matter-of-factly stated Marc Bulger was in the same elite grouping as Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Carson Palmer. … You gotta love the preseason hype.

• The search for a solid No. 2 wideout continues, with Bernard Berrian positioning himself early. Berrian has some speed, but he's going to have to prove that he can beat jams at the line of scrimmage and not be a guy who gets knocked off his routes. One receiver who showed a little burst and playmaking was 5-foot-9 Rashied Davis. A former Arena League player, Davis was a special teams guy and reserve corner in 2005, but now he's getting a shot at receiver. It's always hard to tell with diminutive guys. If he were playing in the Patriots' offense, you'd think maybe he would have a nice shot at doing something. With the Bears, he might be able to carve something out in the slot.

• One other wideout that surprised was Mark Bradley, who is in the running with Berrian for the No. 2 receiver spot. Last year's second-round pick, Bradley showed some nice potential but was limited to only seven games because of a torn ACL. Now he looks like he's all the way back. He caught a few passes and seemed to work without any hesitation and wasn't even wearing so much as a soft sleeve on the repaired knee. "He looks a lot better than he did a month ago during the [offseason workouts] health-wise," offensive coordinator Ron Turner said. "He's probably not completely confident [in the knee], but he has come a long way."