|
 Unable to sustain it early in his career, the veteran quarterback
is making the most of his chance with the Bears filling in for the
injured Jay Cutler.
He's 2-0 as a starter heading into this weekend's game at St. Louis,
and McCown's strong play over four appearances is one reason why the
Bears have stayed in playoff contention.
They're tied with Detroit for the NFC North lead at 6-4 despite
injuries to key players on offense and defense. McCown is making the
most of his opportunity, something he didn't necessarily do in the
past.
"When I was younger, I didn't do some of the things I do now to help
myself," McCown said Thursday. "I think that's part of the learning
process. I'm sure everybody in here has those
if-I-knew-then-what-I-know-now moments. And certainly, I feel that
way but thankful to have the opportunity to kind of exorcise some of
that and take some of these things I've learned and put them into
practice."
At 34, McCown is at least enjoying a sort of rebirth if not playing
the best ball of his career. After all, he has a 100 rating with
five touchdowns and no turnovers .
It's not the first time he's gotten an extended look. McCown started
13 games for Arizona in 2004 with a young Anquan Boldin and rookie
Larry Fitzgerald as his top targets but saw his role diminish.
He was coaching high school football when the Bears signed him 2011
after Cutler suffered a season-ending thumb injury. He made two
starts after Caleb Hanie struggled, got released by Chicago in
August 2012 after re-signing five months earlier and rejoined the
Bears last November.
He didn't play a snap that season, but the Bears turned to him when
Cutler tore his left groin muscle at Washington on Oct. 20. He
played well in that game and led the Bears to a surprising win in a
start at Green Bay two weeks later.
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Then, after Cutler suffered a high left ankle sprain in the first
half against Detroit on Nov. 10, McCown came on for the final drive
and threw a touchdown pass. The Bears lost by two when the two-point
conversion failed.
But McCown came through again in last week's overtime win over
Baltimore, throwing for 216 yards.
So what's different for him now? What's he doing that he didn't when
he was younger?
"How much time do we have?" McCown said. "There's just several
things with just the way I approach it and the way I prepare and
there's a lot of detailed things that I do that I didn't think I
needed to do. You know, 'Oh, I got it. I don't need to do this and
do that.' There's just things that I do that help me. Some of it's
extra time on film and some of it has to do with the way I study the
plays and the manner in which I study the plays and those things."
NOTES: DE Shea McClellin (hamstring), RT Jordan Mills (quadriceps)
and LS Patrick Mannelly (calf) went through a full practice on
Thursday. CB Isaiah Frey (broken hand), S Craig Steltz (concussion)
and DT Jeremiah Ratliff (groin) were limited, and DT Stephen Paea
(toe) did not participate.
___
Online:
AP NFL website:
http://pro32.ap.org/
[Associated
Press; ANDREW SELIGMAN, AP Sports Writer]
Copyright 2013 The Associated
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