dh: Spurrier eager to see former pupil

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Spurrier eager to see former pupil

By Bob LeGere Daily Herald Sports Writer

http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/bears.asp?intID=37973133

Sunday at Soldier Field, Redskins coach Steve Spurrier will see just how much Bears quarterback Rex Grossman learned from him at the University of Florida and how far he's progressed since the coach left Gainesville for the NFL.

"I think it's kind of a coincidence that he kind of helped me get here to this point, and I'm going up against him my second start ever in the NFL," Grossman said. "It's exciting."

Spurrier, who usually spends all his time tinkering with his own offense, couldn't wait until Sunday to check out the progress of one of his prize students.

"Rexie looked pretty good the other day," Spurrier said. "I usually don't watch the offense of the other team, but I had to go peek at him in there. He was bouncing around like he usually does. He was excited to play, obviously and that enthusiasm spreads all throughout the team. He made some good throws, then he had a bunch of balls he had to throw away, so his percentages weren't real super. Other than that, I think he had an excellent game."

Grossman played two of his three seasons at Florida under Spurrier and threw 55 TD passes and just 19 interceptions while completing 64.2 percent of his passes for 5,762 yards. In Grossman's sophomore season, Spurrier's last at Florida, the quarterback finished second in voting for the Heisman Trophy.

"The Evil Genius" had a lot to do with Grossman's development.

"I learned a lot from him, a lot of little details about the quarterback position," Grossman said. "How to beat defenses, how to look off defenders. Just everything a young quarterback can learn coming from high school, where everything's pretty simple, into an extremely complex, highly competitive college football league as the SEC is. He really got me ready for where I am now."

In his first time out, Grossman was more solid than spectacular, playing it safe rather than going for it while completing 13 of 30 passes for 157 yards with 1 sack and no turnovers.

Bears coach Dick Jauron will be looking at specific areas for improvement against a Redskins defense that is below average overall but a little better than average vs. the pass.

"The area where he can clearly improve ... he needs to complete more of his passes," Jauron said. "He needs to be more accurate, deliver the ball on time with rhythm. You hope there would be a big leap, and there could be, but it's hard.

"There were some times in that game where I thought we had a chance for big plays. He was a little bit reluctant to pull the trigger. Hopefully he's past that, but that was probably part of the reason why we didn't turn the ball over at all. He was very careful with the ball last week, and you like that part of it."

Since 1965, the Bears have drafted 25 quarterbacks, but Grossman is the first to make his debut as a starter and only the second to pick up a win in his first start. Jim McMahon helped defeat the Detroit Lions on Nov. 21, 1982, by completing 16 of 27 passes for 233 yards with 2 TDs and 3 interceptions.

Grossman admitted to a little nervousness last week, but most of his teammates didn't detect it. Playing for the volatile Spurrier prepared Grossman and all other Florida quarterbacks for any pressures they might face in the NFL.

"He was pretty good about making sure you were on top of your game," Grossman said. "He wanted to (let) you (know) that we did have an All-America quarterback behind you, so you better keep playing well or he's going to make a move. Maybe that kept me on edge a little bit, maybe not. He was just real highly competitive, and if something wasn't working at any position, he would try another way to go."

That's how the Bears' staff finally wound up with Grossman as the starter, and ideally there won't be any more changes at the quarterback position for a long time. After one game, Jauron said it's easier preparing Grossman for battle.

"He's seen it, he knows how it feels out there," Jauron said. "He's very matter of fact. When you ask him why he didn't do something, he'll tell you exactly why. It's not like he tries to shade it to make himself look better. He'll just tell you exactly what happened at that moment, why he didn't throw it or why he did, which is always a plus because you can communicate and you have something to build on."

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"He was pretty good about making sure you were on top of your game," Grossman said. "He wanted to (let) you (know) that we did have an All-America quarterback behind you, so you better keep playing well or he's going to make a move. Maybe that kept me on edge a little bit, maybe not. He was just real highly competitive, and if something wasn't working at any position, he would try another way to go."

That's a big thing that's missing now. He can't realistically threaten his stars with benching for their backups in most cases.