Talk, Talk: Wednesday afternoon was press conference day for the teams remaining in the Super Bowl hunt. The Chicago Bears were represented by quarterback Jay Cutler, linebacker Lance Briggs, running back Matt Forte, and head coach Lovie Smith. The Green Bay Packers sent head coach Mike McCarthy, cornerback Charles Woodson, quarterback Aaron Rodgers, and receiver Greg Jennings. The Green Bay press questions were mostly softballs, lollipops, and praise for Aaron Rodgers. The Chicago conference was mainly dicussions of the history of the rivalry, and praise for Aaron Rodgers.
When asked about his sense of 'urgency' to win a Super Bowl, due to his age, Lance Briggs had this to say, "I’m 30. I’m not dead. I don’t see it that way. I don’t know how many years I’ll get to play, or all of us on the team will get to play, but we’re going to enjoy it. Obviously it’s not easy to get to the Super Bowl so I think that, more than anything else – it’s just
not easy. So it’s hard fought. We haven’t been there in years. It’s precious."
Lovie Smith was asked about the Bears being the underdogs in their home playoff game, "It's definitely been a part of what we have dealt with this year. You know, coming out of nowhere ... it's not like a lot of people expected us to be in this position. The Packers were supposed to be in this position .... but to me in the playoffs, it's pretty hard to say a team should be an underdog in the playoffs.
"We played them, of course, twice this year and had two great games. The last game up at their place went right up until the end. I expect it to be the same type of game. Whether we're the underdog or not, we will see."
When Chicago Bear running back Matt Forte was asked to compare quarterbacks Cutler and Rodgers, he replied, "Well, I haven’t played with Aaron, but Jay is a great quarterback. He makes plays with his feet and also he’s smart with the football, and he’s definitely got a great arm. He’s a great all-around quarterback." The half-smile on his face suggested that he shares Jay Cutler's, Lovie Smith's, and Brian Urlacher's views on tolerating the press. They all have a tolerant but somewhat impatient demeanor, at these conferences. It's a symbiotic relationship, even if it's not an amiable one.
We'll have some more gems from today's press conferences tomorrow morning. Plus why even a poison pill like Terrell Owens, who will be spending another post-season at home, feels comfortable smack-talking Jay Cutler. and Greg Jennings doesn't hate the Soldier Field turf that much