Cedric Benson
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Cedric Benson
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• 10MAY08 ESPN : Benson won't be cut, yet: With the Bears saying nothing over the past couple of days, it's now clear they will bring halfback Cedric Benson to training camp and let him compete against second- round choice Matt Forte for a starting job. Internally, according to sources, the Bears aren't rendering an opinion on his recent boating incident and will let him work out his legal troubles in court. Benson will be judged on how he bounces back from a broken leg.

• 07MAY08 Chicago Tribune : A woman who was a passenger in Cedric Benson's boat when he was pepper-sprayed and arrested Saturday night said the Bears RB did not seem intoxicated and did not resist arrest. Elizabeth Cartwright, 22, a senior at the University of Texas and a friend of Benson, said she called her father and asked him to call police about the way Benson was treated by officers of the Lower Colorado River Authority, which patrols Lake Travis, a man- made lake northwest of Austin, Texas. According to the police report, Benson had bloodshot eyes, a "strong" alcohol odor and slurred speech when his boat was stopped by authorities on Saturday. Benson has denied he was intoxicated or that he resisted law enforcement and will fight the charges against him.

• 04MAY08 ESPN : Bears RB Cedric Benson was charged with failing a sobriety test while operating a 30-foot boat, then resisting arrest before being hit with pepper spray and dragged ashore by officers. Benson faces charges of boating while intoxicated and resisting arrest after the incident Saturday night on Lake Travis, Travis County Sheriff's Department spokesman Roger Wade said. Both charges are misdemeanors. Benson was released from jail early Sunday on a $14,500 bond. A call to Benson's agent was not immediately returned.

• 27NOV07 The Bears placed RB Cedric Benson on injured reserve; signed lineman Ryan Gibbons to the practice squad.

• 27NOV07 Chicago Tribune on Cedric Benson: On Monday, Smith said Benson is scheduled to undergo season-ending surgery after injuring his lower left leg and ankle in the second quarter of Sunday's victory over the Broncos. Benson was carted off the field and couldn't put pressure on the foot. He emerged later on crutches, wearing a protective boot. Benson is the fourth Bears starter lost for the season to injury, joining safety Mike Brown, DT Dusty Dvoracek and LG Ruben Brown. Benson, a 1st-year starter who was the 4th overall draft pick out of Texas in 2005, showed signs of progress in his last two games, including a 43-yard TD sprint at Seattle and a 21- yard burst on his eighth and final carry against the Broncos. On the latter play, Benson fell awkwardly as Broncos strong safety Hamza Abdullah landed on him. "He went out on a good run," Smith said. "He had put together two good weeks as far as running the football is concerned. We'll miss him. But Adrian Peterson and Garrett Wolfe will step up in his role and do a good job."

• 26NOV07 ESPN : Chicago Bears RB Cedric Benson will miss the remainder of the season with an injury to his lower left leg that will require surgery. "A tough break," Bears coach Lovie Smith said Monday. "We'll miss him." Smith would not disclose what Benson's injury was, only to say it was season-ending and needed surgery.

• 26NOV07 Chicago Sun Times : Slumped over on crutches outside the Bears' locker room with his left ankle encased in a walking boot, running back Cedric Benson wore the look of a man who already knew his fate. ''I've got to go downtown [this] morning,'' Benson, the mercurial former No. 4 overall pick, said of his impending doctor's appointment. It's expected that Benson will miss the rest of the season after he was carted off the field Sunday following a 21-yard run. His left ankle was twisted down awkwardly when he was tackled by Denver safety Hamza Abdullah. It was the second-longest run of the season for Benson, whose struggles have been issue 1-A behind quarterback Rex Grossman's ups and downs. ''They told me not to say anything,'' Benson said while waiting for a helping hand to leave Soldier Field. For the record, coach Lovie Smith called it a ''pretty good ankle injury.''

• 25NOV07 4for4 reports: Bears RB Cedric Benson suffered an ankle injury in Week #12. He was carted off. The injury could be serious.

• 25NOV07 Bears RB Cedric Benson left the game against the Broncos in the second quarter with a left ankle injury. His status is uncertain vs. N.Y. Giants in Week #13.

• 20NOV07 Chicago Sun Times : Bears RB Cedric Benson's limited opportunities with only 11 carries remained a hot-button topic, but Smith explained and made sense when saying it was about moving the ball, something the offense did in totaling 345 yards, its third-best performance of the season. ''I've been asked a lot about the number of carries he got,'' Smith said. ''Looking at it on a Monday after the game, when a guy averages over eight yards a carry, I can see why you would ask why we didn't get him the ball more. But we moved the ball fairly well throughout. Whether you're moving the ball with the run or the pass, it doesn't really matter once you get in a game as long as you get some production, and we were able to do that. I like what we did offensively.''

• 19NOV07 Bears RB Cedric Benson has gained 87 yards (89 rushing and -2 receiving) to go with his TD in Week #11.

• 16NOV07 Chicago Tribune : No player in the Bears locker room, outside of WR Bernard Berrian, might benefit more from Rex Grossman's return than Cedric Benson. That could explain why the RB was so cheery Thursday as he talked about his QB. "Positive vibes having him back there," Benson said. "He's the guy we started the show with, and he does bring a different feel to the game than Brian [Griese]. So it will be good to see what that provides for us." Benson said Grossman's ability to throw long will keep that extra defender out of the box, opening lanes for the running game. But it's up to Benson to find the holes and explode through them. He has only one 100-yard game this season-101 in Week 2 against the Chiefs with Grossman under center. "Not being able to get in the flow of the offense, get a good groove like we had going last year, has been frustrating," Benson said. So frustrating that center Olin Kreutz called the running game embarrassing during an open locker room Thursday. But Kreutz, like Benson, expressed faith Grossman could help cure some of the offensive woes.

• 12NOV07 Bears RB Cedric Benson has scored a TD and also has 97 offensive yards in Week #10.

• 07NOV07 Chicago Sun Times : The Bears were projected to have the easiest schedule in the NFL, but the improvement of the Lions and Packers changed that evaluation. As it turns out, they played only 2 teams with losing records - the Vikings and Eagles - in the first half. Cedric Benson enters the game 28th in the league in rushing yards with 466 despite being tied for 11th in carries with 149. His 3.1- yard average is the lowest in the league among the top 30 rushers. The question isn't whether Benson should have a good game against the Raiders; the question is what the Bears should do if he doesn't. Surely, he will have to be benched in favor of Adrian Peterson unless he produces a big-time performance. GM Jerry Angelo attempted to spread the blame for the Bears' problems in the running game last week when he said, "Cedric [Benson] is performing to the best of his abilities." Benson's best hasn't been good enough, but Angelo insisted, "I would hate to think you're going to single out one person and say, 'Well, this is the reason why they can't run the ball.' It's a team game."

• 01NOV07 Chicago Sun Times on Cedric Benson: After watching his club stagger to a 3-5 1st half, GM Angelo is satisfied with RB Benson. "Cedric is performing to the best of his abilities," Angelo said in an informal state-of-the-team address Wednesday. "He's giving us top effort. That's all I could ask of any player." That would seem to indicate Angelo thinks that the reasons for the moribund running game lie elsewhere - or that Benson has peaked, an unlikely assessment by the man who spent the 4th pick in '05 on the former Texas star. The Bears have slipped to 31st in the league in rushing, a failure by any estimation for a club that… well, you know what they do when they get off the bus. "Part of it is because we haven't been able to score early and we've been playing from behind," Angelo said. "We're throwing the ball much more than I thought we'd be. Our game plan is not to throw it 40 times a game. "It's not one person, and I would hate to think you're going to single out one person and say, 'This is the reason why they can't run the ball.' There are a lot of things that are involved in that." Angelo's concern with the run/pass ratio leads to the office of OC Ron Turner. Brian Griese has thrown 40-plus passes in 4 of his 5 starts.

• 12SEP07 Chicago Tribune on Cedric Benson: Changing RBs hardly threatens team chemistry the way changing QBs can. Tinkering with the engine isn't the same as switching drivers. Regardless of how little Lovie Smith wanted to discuss the idea Monday, Benson's job security as the featured RB needs review on a weekly basis until he proves himself, beginning Sunday against the Chiefs. Remember that Benson won the starting RB job on faith and not on the field. That faith the Bears placed in their 2005 1st-round draft pick took a severe blow against the Chargers, when Benson responded to his promotion with a lackluster 42-yard performance that included a lost fumble. So uninspired was Benson's effort that when he put on a cap on the sidelines during the first offensive series of the 4th quarter, many assumed he had been benched for Adrian Peterson. The Bears denied that, unconvincingly. But for the long-term good of the team and maybe even Benson, they need at least to consider benching him to start the 1st quarter. Yo, Adrian. Peterson deserves an extended look.