Bears QB Grossman showing improvement

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<p align="justify">Everybody's raving about Rex.

<p align="justify">Just a week into training camp, quarterback Rex Grossman is being praised for his consistency and apparent improvement in footwork. He's been on target with almost all his passes, with only a couple interceptions suffered out of hundreds of attempts.

<p align="justify">This is just what head coach Lovie Smith expected.

<p align="justify">"I think it's just another year," Smith said. "Just another year as a starter. Experience teaches you a lot.

<p align="justify">"I'm going to look at the amount of work he's put in to improving his fundamentals, his technique. (Quarterbacks coach Pep) Hamilton has done a good job with him. Once you've been in the system awhile, you get better at it."

<p align="justify">Grossman was impressive in Thursday's Red Zone drills at Olivet Nazarene University. He connected twice with tight end Desmond Clark for scores, then hit wideout hopeful Brandon Rideau for another touchdown. That more than made up for being picked off by Charles Tillman in a 7-on-7 drill.

<p align="justify">Grossman came to camp prepared. He didn't think the offseason was short, considering the team played into February because of the Super Bowl loss to Indianapolis. He said he had plenty of time to "get rested and ready to go."

<p align="justify">His philosophy for 2007 is simple:

<p align="justify">"I just want to improve and build on the things I did well last year, and try to work on the things I didn't do as well. I think everyone does that. Everyone wants to improve, and I've got a lot of room for improvement."

<p align="justify">If progress is being made, it's understandable. Grossman only had started seven games in three seasons entering 2006. Now, he has the lessons learned from last year's 19-game schedule.

<p align="justify">"It feels a little bit more comfortable knowing what to expect," he said. "Having played four playoff games (including one after the 2005 season) and starting a full season and experience playoffs and a Super Bowl, all that has to benefit me. I'm just going to use that and run with it."

<p align="justify">Grossman is spreading the ball to all the familiar faces - Muhsin Muhammad, Bernard Berrian, Rashied Davis, Mark Bradley, Clark, plus new to the offense Devin Hester and tight end Greg Olsen.

<p align="justify">"I expect Rex to be a better player than he was last year, I do," Muhammad said. "I expect him to make better decisions, expect him to be consistent and I'm pretty sure he expects that out of himself. It's not all about what 'Moose' expects out of Rex' it's more what Rex expects out of Rex, him just improving on what he did last season."

<p align="justify">What he did last season ranged from spectacular to dreadful. Eight quarterback ratings above 98.6; five between 0.0 and 36.8.

<p align="justify">Offensive coordinator Ron Turner just wants Grossman to "work on the same things as last year at this time, which is just run the offense, work on consistency and his techniques.

<p align="justify">"It's really no different than what Harry Hiestand is doing with the offensive linemen, what Tim Spencer is doing with the running backs and every position coach - you just have those guys really concentrate in camp on techniques and fundamentals."

<p align="justify">Grossman was asked for the one word that best applies to him this season.

<p align="justify">"Improve," he said.

<p align="justify">He then was asked a follow-up question.

<p align="justify">"You said one word," he said, smiling and pausing.

<p align="justify">"I had a chance to analyze what I did well and didn't do well. You start thinking about too much. Is this corner guy going to jump this route? Just run your offense and go through the motions and do what the coaches ask you to do.

<p align="justify">"If I can have the same mind-set throughout the season, I'll be fine."

<p align="justify">Turner has been most impressed with Grossman's decision-making.

<p align="justify">"It's one of the things we looked at in the offseason," Turner said. "He got in trouble last year, and we all talked about his mechanics and throwing off his back foot. It came when there maybe was some indecision. Part of that's on us. We've got to look at what we're doing and eliminate that indecision."

<p align="justify">Turner talks about how they now can review 19 game films from last year as opposed to three a year ago.

<p align="justify">"He didn't have that benefit last year," Turner said. "Decision making, he's way ahead of last year."

<p align="justify">Muhammad sees the difference already.

<p align="justify">"He's throwing the ball extremely well," he said. "I think he knows where he wants to go with the ball. He's doing a good job of reading the defenses, and they're doing a great job disguising their coverages. They're holding their coverages to the last minute. That's giving Rex a lot of good work on having to read the coverages and deciding where to go with the football."

<p align="justify">Grossman and Berrian have connected the most consistently on deep routes so far.

<p align="justify">"Oh yeah, Rex is a lot sharper," Berrian said. "A lot better with the footwork, making a lot better decisions and he's always been accurate, so I'm not worried about that."

Reed Schreck is the NFL Writer for the Rockford Register Star. He can be reached at 815-987-1381 or rschreck@rrstar.com.</font>