Thomas Jones Column

Anointing new king another royal mistake

March 7, 2007

BY GREG COUCH Sun-Times Columnist
The Bears are King Cedric's now. So they cleared out all the subjects beneath him. By subjects, I mean Thomas Jones.

Jones is officially with the Jets, the Bears having sent him and a low second-round pick to New York for a high second-round pick. In other words, they didn't get anything for him.

''We like Cedric Benson and felt it's his turn now,'' Bears general manager Jerry Angelo said Tuesday. ''It's his time. It's that simple.''

Simple? This is Bear Befuddlement at its best. They spent all last year babbling about how important it is to have two running backs, and now they sent one away and said the team is better off for it. Angelo said the franchise was ''going forward.''

So I asked: Does this trade make the team better in the future or better now?

''Both,'' Angelo said. ''These situations aren't black-and-white. Other things come into play, but I don't want to get into the other things we talked about.

''I know from your perspective, that's how you see it, that's how you'll write it. But that's not always the case.''

Let's go over this again: It's simple, but it's not black-and-white.

Another way of putting it: The Bears' thinking is as clear as mud.

They had to clear out Jones because they thought it was Benson's time, and they didn't think Jones or the rest of the team could handle that. So they got rid of him to avoid the tension.

One problem: Angelo and coach Lovie Smith created that tension in the first place. Because of that tension, they thought they needed to crown Benson now.

What caused the tension? Their attempt to crown Benson last year.

It's that simple, but not black-and-white.

What's wrong with these guys, anyway? Have they ever heard of competition? Anytime they decide to anoint someone, such as Rex Grossman, they feel they have to clear out the backups first. Why?

Someone asked Angelo if competitive tensions between Jones and Benson led to this ''trade.'' (You need those quote marks because a real trade requires giving something and getting something.)

''I can't answer that,'' Angelo said. ''I'm not in the locker room with them.''

Then I'll answer. It was 100 percent of the problem.

In fairness, some of it was going to come naturally anyway. Jones never has been the king. He has worked his way up, earned everything, built himself into someone who is solid in every aspect of the game. His teammates respect him for that. And then Benson came along, drafted high and paid accordingly.


Blame tension on Smith, Angelo
Benson was everything Jones never was. He was crowned, yes. But also, he felt entitled before having earned it. Then Smith fed right into any natural tension by naming Benson the starter in preseason camp last year after Jones was coming off a career season.
So Jones got huffy. And eventually, when Benson lost the job, he left the sideline before an exhibition game was over, and his teammates snitched on him. It was all because of the tension Smith and Angelo created.

And the players were on Jones' side, of course.

It wasn't Benson's fault. But still, why wouldn't Jones resent him?

As last season went on, I became sold on Benson. He seemed to stop pouting and grow up. I've never been big on Jones.

Jones has speed and experience, and when there's a hole, he hits it. Benson might miss a few holes. But when there is no hole, Jones stops moving his feet, leans into the pack and falls down. Benson rams the pack back a few yards.

''When you do that, you know you're beating the other team down, wearing them down,'' he said after the blowout over New Orleans in the NFC Championship Game. ''You're stamping a message in their heads.''

A minute later, though, he said his yards came in tough situations with the safety moved in. Meanwhile, he said, Jones was running in passing situations through gaping holes.

Benson is growing, but he isn't there yet.

So ideally, he could have had a chance to start next season, and Jones would have been there, too.

Besides, this could have been a great combo. Benson wears down the defense, and then a quick and fresh Jones comes in.


No way Bears are better
You need both. And with all the players with expiring contracts after next season -- and the Bears will lose some of them -- the championship window is closing. You can't take chances now.
The Bears should have kept Jones and let him compete with Benson. No anointing. If Jones couldn't have accepted losing the job naturally, then he isn't the teammate everyone says he is.

Of course, there would be no way to know if it came naturally because the Bears have been so eager to make Cedric king.

''What we did last year worked very well,'' Angelo said, ''I didn't foresee that being inevitable again this year.''

That's your fault, Jerry. Yours and Smith's. Now you say the team is better off with Benson and Adrian Peterson than it was with Benson and Jones.

Hah! You've resolved your problem by doing the same thing you did to create it.

Simple as that.

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