Harris 'hyped up' for Favre
Bears defensive tackle Tommie Harris can't wait to see Brett Favre take on his former team during today's "Monday Night Football" telecast.
"I’ve been watching this guy since I was like 12, this guy that wears the No. 4 jersey," Harris said Monday at Halas Hall. "I’m hyped up for it."
The Minnesota Vikings are 3-0 and the Green Bay Packers are 2-1 in the NFC North. On one hand, a Packers win would create a three-way tie for first place with the 3-1 Bears. On the other hand, the Bears have not played the Vikings yet, and a Packers loss would hurt a team that already has beaten the Bears.
So which team will Harris root for Monday?
"Who am I cheering for?" he repeated. "Neither one of them. I hope both of them could lose the game, if it was up to me. We need that."
Bears coach Lovie Smith shared Harris' sentiment.
"Very seldom do I pull for a NFC North team to win," Smith said. "I guess someone has to tonight."
The Vikings and Packers play at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN and WSCR-AM 670.
***
The Bears have two weeks to go before their next game, so it was no surprise Monday when coach Lovie Smith took a "wait-and-see" approach to his team's injured players.
Devin Hester, Adrian Peterson and Johnny Knox all left the field during Sunday's game against the Detroit Lions because of injuries. Linebackers Hunter Hillenmeyer and Pisa Tinoisamoa already were out, and defensive lineman Israel Idonije underwent arthroscopic surgery Monday on his left knee, which has bothered him throughout the season.
Smith offered a quick take on each player:
• On Hester: "Devin Hester went out [with a] shoulder-area injury. Should be fine. ... Right now, two weeks away, am I expecting [him to play Atlanta]? Yeah, I’m expecting all of the guys to play right now. We haven’t ruled anybody out, so I’m pretty excited about us having all of our guys ready to go next time we play."
• On Peterson: "Adrian Peterson has a knee sprain. He should be OK. We’ll evaluate it, don’t know the extent of his injury still." (Will you add another running back if he's out for awhile?) It will be hard to just go into a game with two running backs on our roster, if that’s what you’re asking. But I’m hoping that we won’t get to that point."
• On Knox: "Johnny Knox will be fine. He had a shin injury."
• On Idonije: "Israel Idonije had a scope this morning to clean up a little bit in one of his knees. Should be good to go. Nothing major. Minor procedure that we had scheduled. So he should be all right."
• On Hillenmeyer and Tinoisamoa: "Both are getting better, and hopefully they’ll be ready to go next time we play."
So there you have it. Expect a lot of Smith's sentences this bye week to include the words "hopefully," "should be fine," and "getting better" whenever he discusses his team's injuries.
-Tom Musick
