Bears Will Stay Healthy Against the Packers But Fans Might Be Hurting

Rob Reischel, writing for the Chicago Tribune, describes the mind set of the Green Bay Packers going into Sunday’s game:

“The Green Bay Packers are roughly 48 hours away from their biggest game of the season when they host the Bears on Sunday. If the Packers had their druthers, though, they’d play the game this minute.

“‘Our football team is very excited to play,’ Packers coach Mike McCarthy said after Friday’s practice. ‘Everybody fully understands what’s at stake here, and it’s important for us to clearly stay focused on winning and playing the best that we possibly can for the whole game. It’s as simple as that. That’s the message. That’s the chatter in the locker room. That’s the vibe, and 3:15 can’t get here soon enough.'”

I can only imagine.

Now let’s contrast this with Michael C. Wright‘s report for ESPNChicago.com:

“The Chicago Bears maintain they plan to play their starters for the duration Sunday, when they face the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field, but multiple team sources revealed the staff has told some of the key backups to be ready.”

“Throughout the week of preparation leading into Sunday’s contest, the Bears ramped up the repetitions of some of the key backups, such as tight end Kellen Davis and third-team running back Kahlil Bell, while telling others to be ready to contribute when called upon.”

I’m not saying Smith is doing the wrong thing.  The Bears want to come out of this game healthy.  But the indications are that for the fans, this thing could be very painful.