Healthy line should provide big boost

[The_Philster]

LAKE FOREST, Ill. - No one enjoys performing card tricks more than Bob Wylie, but operating without a full deck on the field last season was anything but magical for the Bears' offensive line coach.

Left guard Rex Tucker sustained a season-ending dislocated left ankle and fractured fibula Oct. 7 in a defeat against Green Bay. Tackle Marc Colombo went down six weeks later with a dislocated left knee in a Monday night loss in St. Louis.

Guard Chris Villarrial and Pro Bowl center Olin Kreutz each also missed one game....

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[The_Philster]

BOURBONNAIS, Ill.--On the eve of training camp, Bears coach Dick Jauron said Marc Colombo would be evaluated on a ''week-to-week'' basis, and he hoped it would not become month-to-month.

Word is now that the team knew coming into camp that Colombo, the projected starting right tackle and first-round draft pick in 2001, likely was not going to return from rehabilitation of his left knee until around the start of the season on Sept. 7. The possibility also looms that he will begin the season on the physically unable to perform list, which would prohibit him from returning until the seventh game.

''I haven't talked to our doctors about Marc this week,'' Jauron said Monday. ''I know he works hard every day in his rehab. I don't anticipate him on the field this week.''...
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[The_Philster]

Frustrated in his rehabilitation, tackle Marc Colombo is seeking a second opinion on his reconstructed left knee today, evidence the Bears do not know when he will be able to contribute to an offensive line that has been shaky in the preseason.

Colombo is flying to Birmingham, Ala., to see orthopedic specialist James Andrews. It's a trip that comes with the team's blessing.

''They feel like at this stage it might be a right move to see if we have been doing the right thing all along,'' Colombo said. ''If [Andrews] agrees, it's just one of those things that takes a long time.''...

more (http://www.suntimes.com/output/bears/cst-spt-biggs25.html)

[The_Philster]

Normally unflappable Bears coach Dick Jauron was nearly despondent when announcing the latest setback to his offensive line Friday. Left guard Rex Tucker will undergo surgery Tuesday to repair a torn tendon in his right ankle.

Though the Bears say Tucker will be out indefinitely, a source said the fifth-year veteran will be lost for the season. Steve Edwards is expected to start in his place for the season opener Sept. 7 in San Francisco.

''I'm at a complete loss for words,'' said Tucker, a Pro Bowl alternate in 2001. ''I really don't know what to say. I don't have a word for it.''...

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