Bear Digest

Bears facing another wet field in game at Soldier Field with Saints

Although the field had a tarp on it, the Bears will be playing for the second straight week on a wet field as the rain continued during warmups.
Gene Chamberlain|
The grounds crew at Soldier Field removes the tarp 2 1/2 hours before the game. IT was still raining hard as it came off.
The grounds crew at Soldier Field removes the tarp 2 1/2 hours before the game. IT was still raining hard as it came off. | Chicago Bears On SI Photo: Gene Chamberlain

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Chicago Bears

The Bears and Saints will be playing on a wet field, although forecasts say the rain should be out of the area by gametime.

The tarp was completely off the field for warmups by 10 a.m  for the noon kickoff but it was still raining as the grounds crew removed it.

It won’t be new to the Bears to be on a wet field or even kicking with a wet ball, since they did it Monday night against Washington.

Game time temperatures are expected in the high 50s.

“I think they handled it well,” coach Ben Johnson said. “When you know what you're getting yourself into, that certainly allows you to get in the right frame of mind to go about your business the right way and handle it.

“They knew what it was going to be like. They thought they wore the proper shoes last Monday night and I didn't see guys slipping all over the tape like you could see possibly–other teams do at times. I thought they handled it well. Then this week it could be a different story, whether it's rainy or we get a little bit more wind. That's something that we always think about as a coaching staff and just like last week, it's making sure our players are ahead of it so that they can be in the right frame of mind.”

The Saints haven’t played on a grass field yet this season. Four of their games were indoors at home and the two road games were outdoors on artificial surfaces at Buffalo and at the Giants.

Bears kicker Jake Moody handled the wet football and conditions well last week with four field goals, most by a Bears kicker in their debut.

“I think (special teams) coach (Richard) Hightower does a great job making sure we turnover every stone to make sure we're exhausting every avenue so that all of our players are ready,” Johnson said. “For example, (the Saints) have a left-footed punter (Kai Kroeger). We had a guy come in to kick to our returners (Thursday).

“Things of that nature. I'm pretty confident that Jake will be as prepared as he could possibly be.”

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.