To Neal Anderson, special teams were a danger, fullback was achore, halfback is a delight and now wideout will be a hobby.
The hobby will be on exhibit tomorrow when the Bears play theBills in Columbia, S.C.
Anderson playing wideout may be nothing but smoke, but smoke canprovide fascinating viewing.
Extenuating circumstances are responsible for the Bears halfbacktaking on a second position this week, and how much he'll veer fromrunning back once the season starts is unknown. Bears coaches don'tmind giving opposing defensive coordinators something to ponder.
The primary reason Anderson will be playing wideout against theBills tomorrow is that the Bears have only four healthy receivers.Wendell Davis is having hamstring problems again and isn't expectedto play, Tony Moss is out with a separated shoulder, Glen Kozlowskiis probably out with a lower leg injury and Tom Waddle is gimpy witha sprained ankle.
That leaves Ron Morris, Dennis Gentry and Quintin Smith as theonly healthy receivers. Coach Mike Ditka said Smith, a free agentrookie, probably will start against the Bills.
With the stifling weather, Anderson has been relieving wearyreceivers in practice all week.
He played the position on a very limited basis last year, andoften goes in motion from his halfback position and ends up atwideout.
There are distinct advantages.
"If you get him out there and you get a safety or linebacker onhim, you've got a mismatch," Ditka said.
Most linebackers and safeties aren't used to covering wideoutsone-on-one. The idea isn't anywhere near as ridiculous as it sounds.
"It's not a bad thought," running backs coach Johnny Rolandsaid.
If Anderson converted, he probably would be the Bears' bestwideout. He's led the Bears in catches two of the last three years.
"He's probably the fastest guy we've got," Roland said. "He cantake people deep and run the short and intermediate routs. He canget around jams and he's strong and physical. He can be areincarnated Charley Taylor."
It's challenging for Anderson. Some players have difficultiesknowing what to do at one position.
"I take pride in being able to run routs and catch the ball,"Anderson said. "I've been here long enough now that I should knowsomething about the entire offense."
The downside about Anderson playing wideout is he can't playhalfback too. Removing a player who rushed for 1,275 yards lastyear from the backfield wouldn't cause anyone to mention Ditka in thesame breath with Einstein.
It's ironic Anderson is going to be playing wideout in a weekwhen the Bears' priority is jump-starting their sputtering groundgame. Aside from one long run by Johnny Bailey, the rushing attackhas been flat at best.
"It's getting late and things haven't clicked," Anderson said.
It's easy to point to the fact it's pre-season. The schedulehas been responsible for rotating bodies, rookies playing and thelack of a true game plan.
But the Bears need to find out if something is missing.
"The biggest key for me is the performance of the offensiveline," Anderson said. "I'm only as good as them."
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