Bears Football Blog

Parking spots going up$

The cost of thousands of parking spots near Soldier Field will spike nearly 50 percent for Bears games this fall.

A lot beneath McCormick Place Lakeside Center and another at 31st and S. Moe Drive will cost $25, up from $17 last season. RV drivers must pay $50, up from $34.

The steep increase covers "the cost of security, portable toilet facility rental, shuttle buses, cleaning and parking taxes,'' said Mary Kay Marquisos, spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Pier & Exposition Authority, which controls the lots.

Both lots have about 2,000 spaces each. Continue

Bears need WR for Cutler

Third-round draft pick Juaquin Iglesias ran under a bomb from Caleb Hanie in the two-minute drill to score a touchdown on the final play of the Bears' offseason training activities Wednesday at Halas Hall.

There might not have been a more fitting conclusion to the voluntary offseason program for a team that has remade itself since stumbling at Houston last season, a loss that prevented it from reaching the playoffs for the second straight year. Newcomer Jay Cutler didn't throw the pass, but the second team finishes practice, and it was a different sight for the Bears, who had just two touchdown catches of more than 23 yards in 2008. Continue

Cutler deflects critics

Being anointed a franchise quarterback for a franchise with a history of quarterbacking as dire as the Bears can’t be easy.

Throw in some flak from former NFL coaches and the media and things can only get tougher.

But Jay Cutler is taking it all in stride.

‘‘I think every quarterback in the NFL has a lot of pressure,’’ Cutler said Saturday after a diabetes awareness event at La Rabida Children’s Hospital on the South Side. ‘‘You are trying to lead a team offensively. You are trying to do the best you can out there. Anywhere you go you’re going to have pressure. Obviously, Chicago has great fans and great tradition. They expect a lot. And, I expect a lot out of myself. It’s going to be a fun year.’’ Continue

Bears serious about Plaxico?

Jerry Angelo's door remains open when it comes to adding a veteran wide receiver. Bears players would like to say ''come on in'' to Plaxico Burress.

The general manager has not ruled out anything, and in an offseason like none the franchise has seen, everything is in play eight weeks before training camp. That includes Burress, the former New York Giants receiver who remains without a team while the NFL waits to see how his gun charge proceeds in New York courts. Continue