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Posts about Bears
Asked if NFL cares more about offensive players, Jared Allen says, 'Absolutely.'
Posted by: Vince Tuss Updated: October 10, 2012 - 10:03 PM
Vikings defensive end Jared Allen was a sack machine last season, but he also feels under gun himself. Asked Wednesday on ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption" show whether the NFL favors offensive players and ignores defensive players when it comes to dangerous hits, Allen quickly answered, "Oh, absolutely."
Tony Kornheiser raised the question, following up on the season-ending knee injury to Houston linebacker Brian Cushing and a tweet made by Green Bay's Clay Matthews that the league needs to protect players on both sides of the ball.
"When we talk about overall player safety, I think, you know, from a defensive side of the ball, we definitely feel like it's not necessarily geared towards us," Allen said. "It's more stuff we can't do to them than they can't do to us."
Allen referenced a fine levied against him in November 2008 for a hit on Houston quarterback Matt Schaub against a hit he took a month later against the Lions. "From my own experiences, I got fined $75,000 or something like that for hitting Schaub for what they said was low and he had the ball trying to get to him a few years back. I get knifed in the knee by a dude in Detroit, and they don't do anything."
The fine was $50,000, and the dude was Lions offensive lineman Gosder Cherilus, whose hit Allen was still smarting about in 2009.
Allen also was realistic: "Everybody gets treated fairly, but not everybody gets treated the same." Later he added, talking about NFL officials, "Obviously they got the overall image of the Shield that they're trying to create or make better, so I'm for it."
Allen also talked to Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon about how the league has changed since he started playing, not to mention the team's surprising 4-1 start as well as the focus, preparation and coaching required of the young team.
And he also talked about a desire to beat the Bears in Chicago for the first time: "I want nothing more than to crush the Bears and especially in Chicago. I'm going to do everything I can do. ... When we see them, it's game on."
Here's a link to the "PTI" audio via podcast. Allen comes in about 8:50 into the audio. We'll post video if it becomes available.
Ex-Viking Lorenzo Booker fighting for spot with Bears
Posted by: Howard Sinker Updated: August 28, 2012 - 7:52 AMThe final week of exhibition games means little to most fans and established players because the battles that are being fought are typically for back-up spots on the roster. When you watch the fourth game of the preseason, you don't expect to see many regulars getting significant playing time, if any playing time at all.
For the Chicago Bears, Thursday night's game will be a big one for former Vikings running back and kick returner Lorenzo Booker, who is battling for the No. 3 running back job with Armando Allen.
Booker helped himself in the second game of the preseason with a 105-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
Bears coach Lovie Smith told the Chicago Tribune: "When you get a chance, you need a splash play to make everybody take notice. The kickoff return did that. He has a history in the league too. In every situation we've put him in we've seen something special from him. He's a little bit different than our other running backs too — a quick guy — so he brings a different dimension.''
Working against him, though, is the fact that the Bears have Devin Hester returning kicks and also signed Eric Weems as a backup in that role. Allen is seen as a better receiver than Booker, although Booker caught four passes when the Bears rallied past the New York Giants' reserves to win 20-17 on Friday.
Here's the Chicago Tribune report on the battle.
And here's a story from the Daily Herald.
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