No Tripping Up Ian Cunningham

It might never come up Thursday and then again you never know for certain in the NFL Draft exactly what other teams are thinking.

The Bears sit ninth and with a great need on the defensive line there is the possibility Jalen Carter falls to them, no matter how remote. It seems unlikely with several teams before them also in need of defensive line help.

If it does happen, would they take him and risk all the potential questions/controversy over the Georgia defensive tackle's decisions in the aftermath of a fatal car crash, as well as his poor conditioning at a Pro Day?

Bears assistant GM Ian Cunningham is a novice in terms of the cat-and-mouse game of predraft media questions. A finalist for a GM job this past offseason, he apparently isn't far from a real GM job because he adeptly tap-danced around Carter queries when he got the chance to talk about all of this in place of Bears GM Ryan Poles Tuesday following the annual Piccolo Awards.

Cunningham managed to praise Carter without really answering what the character issues mean to Chicago.

"Me personally, I think just spending more time with him and really just getting to know him, we were able to be there with him," Cunningham said. "Our first conversation was I think at the combine. Second time, was at his pro day."

The third was a Bears 30 visit, where Carter came to Halas Hall this month.

"I think the more time you spend around him, the more you realize he's a good player, but you get to know him more as a person," Cunningham said. "I think ultimately, where we feel we've made the best decision for us and our organization."

A non-answer.

With the Bears, there is an extra qualifying layer because coach Matt Eberflus' HITS principle requires players always to be hustling or face loafing charges. There has been talk Carter might be prone to taking a down or two off, though few specifics offered up in attacks.

"Yeah I think Jalen Carter when you watch him on the field he's active, he works hard, he's physical," Cunningham said. "I think when you turn on the tape he shows a number of plays where he shows physicality and toughness, you know those sorts of things."

This much is apparent about his play to anyone, so he can be a HITS guy?

"I think that for me personally I think, yeah, he feels some of those things. For me, yeah," Cunningham said.

Of course, it's Eberflus who has to see it and Poles who needs to make the pick.

"Yeah I think Jalen's a really good player," Cunningham said. "I mean there's no denying the talent, you turn on the tape a couple years ago when they first won the national championship and they had all those defensive lineman on the field, you couldn't help but notice 88 and then knowing that oh, he's going to be on next year's class and then you turn on the tape this year and you see a lot of the same flashes where he's been playing through things.

"So I think he's one of those players that you covet just in terms of, you know, being one of the better defensive tackles in this class."

When Cunningham was finished two-stepping around that one, he was asked if there was a way to tell whether Carter was lying to them or being deceptive when they had him in for a visit and spoke with him.

"I majored in psychology but I didn't get a master's or a PhD," Cunningham said. "That's a tough question."

And one that will go unanswered like the rest, as Cunningham dodged and ducked another as adeptly as veteran GMs.

Maybe he'll get that GM position he's pursued next year.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven