Adam Podlesh’s hip injury concerns Dave Toub
BY JOE COWLEY jcowley@suntimes.com August 21, 2012 10:56PM
Adam Podlesh (above) won’t punt Friday against the Giants because of a hip-flexor injury. Rookie Ryan Quigley will fill in. | Tom Cruze~Sun-Times
Updated: September 23, 2012 6:23AM
In the world of Bears coach Lovie Smith, Tuesday was just another nothing-to-see-here day regarding the injuries that have hit the team.
Not so for special-teams coordinator Dave Toub.
Toub said that the hip-flexor injury to punter Adam Podlesh was very worrisome, even though it’s not to his punting leg.
“It’s a bad injury for a punter to have,” Toub said. “Whether it’s the kicking leg or it’s the opposite leg, we’re concerned. He’s going to see a couple of specialists, and we’ll figure out what we need to do.
“It’s a common injury for kickers. Sometimes they get it when they’re kicking and it’s on their kicking leg, and that’s even worse. We’re fortunate that it’s on his opposite leg. It’s more of a stabilizer for him.”
The Bears named rookie Ryan Quigley the punter for the road game Friday against the New York Giants. They spent Tuesday afternoon looking at free-agent veteran punter Matt Dodge.
“[Quigley is] going to get a good shot this week,” Toub said. “This is going to be a good test for him. He gets to play with the [starters]. He hasn’t done that all offseason. He’s going to be our punter for this game. We’ll see if he can handle it.”
Shoulder talk
Safety Chris Conte plans to return for the season opener even though his shoulder actually popped out in the victory Saturday against the Washington Redskins.
“It’s not a big deal,” Conte said. “I don’t plan on missing any regular-season games, but the preseason was going well and you want to keep on getting better and playing in the preseason, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.”
Craig Steltz will start with Major Wright on Friday.
Quiet riot
Coming from Oakland, running back Michael Bush was used to a certain type of fan, especially the ones that dwelled in the “Black Hole.’’
His first preseason game at Soldier Field was quite different.
“It’s a whole lot different,’’ Bush said. “As far as the fans, it’s a little quieter here. I’m used to the ‘Black Hole’ just going crazy. Even the players here carry themselves differently. I’m used to the fired-up, going-crazy pregame warm-up, and I’m walking around and I was like, ‘Man, these guys are quiet.’ ”
Clearing space
The Bears waived defensive tackle DeMario Pressley. He was signed in May after appearing in eight games with the New Orleans Saints (2009) and Carolina Panthers (2011), recording 20 tackles.
