Bears lack in player development

Ah, January.

It's that special time of year when we can stay inside, stuff our faces and become ill from the constant reminders of just how far the Bears are from playoff-caliber football.

Even with the comatose performance of the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday, we are reminded that this is the same team that throttled the Bears 45-10, while Cedric Benson gashed the Jets' defense for 169 yards.

With 13 ex-Bears playing for eight playoff teams -- some enjoying a career resurgence -- it also begs the persistent question regarding player development.

Bears general manager Jerry Angelo kept that discussion relevant late in the season when he said the team he gave Lovie Smith and his coaching staff was a good one. In other words, the coaching staff blew it for not developing its players.

As convoluted and wishy-washy as last week's memorable news conference was, Angelo did try to back off a bit, saying "a combination of a lot of things" have led to the Bears' woes. But firing six offensive assistant coaches pretty much hammered home the development point again.

So which is it? And how much is there to the development question? We know the Bears have blown it in the draft and in free agency, and we have seen Bears players change their careers for the better with a change of uniform.

Benson accepts some responsibility, as he should, for his Bears days being such a disaster. But what of the others? To find the answer, we did what all self-respecting reporters with a crayon at the ready do, and offered a former Bears assistant coach -- whom we respect and who has no more bitterness than the next guy -- speak on the subject anonymously, on the off chance he should want another job in the NFL again.

"I don't think there's a lot of it happening," the coach said of player development. "I think what happens during the season is that coaches get caught up in the preparation of the games, then all the younger players go by the wayside, and at the end of the day, the younger players go home."

The advent of hiring assistants for position coaches (which about 50 percent of the league now has, as do the Bears at most spots) has helped, but it isn't always enough. Those assistants must be qualified and willing to work solely with young players before and after practice on fundamentals and technique, and must do more work on Fridays and more work off the field as well, with lessons such as how to study film, something many players do not master.