Lovie won't throw the hook at Rex

Smith denies QB is on a short leash against Seahawks

The Bears' playoff game Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks will be quarterback Rex Grossman's to win or lose. That's the word from coach Lovie Smith, who was asked about TV reports that the team will have Grossman on a short leash with an eye toward pulling him if it looks like another turnover avalanche is imminent.

Grossman has a tendency to throw interceptions in bunches. He threw 16 of his 20 interceptions in only five games this season -- four against Arizona and three in four other games, including the regular-season finale against Green Bay. The Packers returned two of the picks for touchdowns. Conversely, Grossman has thrown multiple touchdowns in seven games, and in only one of those seven (a Nov. 12 victory at the Giants) did he throw an interception.

Smith said he had a chance to play fan last weekend and watch a lot of games, and he was surprised by what he heard, including his alleged plan to use a quick hook on Grossman.

''We talk about perception and reality,'' Smith said. ''That may be the perception, but I don't know where it came from. It is not the reality at all. Just go with our track record. I keep hearing these things. It hasn't happened, so where does this come from?''

The Bears have stuck with Grossman all season. If they were going to pull him, they would have done so after the Minnesota game on Dec. 3, when he finished with a 1.3 passer rating. Instead, they gave backup Brian Griese half the snaps in practice but stuck with Grossman during a Monday night game at St. Louis.

Griese played extended minutes in the final two games of the regular season, but only with the idea of keeping him sharp for a playoff emergency and to keep Grossman healthy for the postseason. Griese scoffed at reports that Grossman would get a quick hook in the playoffs after producing a 0.0 passer rating in one half of play against the Packers.

Griese got half the snaps in practice again during the bye week but is down to about 20 percent now that the Bears have begun implementing their game plan for Seattle. Griese said he would be prepared if he got the chance, but he doesn't believe Grossman is on a short leash.

''You might think that, but I don't know,'' Griese said. ''Does anybody know that? Nobody really does for sure. But with a playoff game, you leave no stone unturned as far as your preparation is concerned. It doesn't matter if you're a starter or a second-string guy. It won't be any different for me. I will prepare like I'm starting the game because that's what I should do and that's what this team expects me to do.''

Grossman and Griese are different types of quarterbacks, with Grossman more of a gambler who likes to go downfield and strike in the vertical passing game. That tendency has gotten him in trouble at times this season. Griese believes in taking what a defense gives him and is a higher-percentage passer as a result.

Griese is not strictly a dink-and-dunk guy, but you have to wonder what the cutoff point would be if the Bears were to fall behind in a game. Griese didn't play very well against Green Bay when he came in at halftime facing a huge deficit. But then, what quarterback does have success when the game situation forces a team to be one-dimensional?

Still, given Griese's reliance on efficiency over fireworks, would the Bears have to make a move after one interception or two should things begin to go south for Grossman? They don't want to consider that possibility publicly, even if they had better do some calculating privately in order to make sure they give themselves the best chance to win.

Of course, the whole problem can be avoided if Grossman plays the sort of game he did against the Seahawks in a 37-6 victory Oct. 1. In that game, Grossman completed 17 of 31 passes for 232 yards and two touchdowns.

If that happens, Griese might be called on -- but only for mopup duty.

One person who has suffered greatly while watching the Bears' secondary suffer through a miserable end to the season is cornerback Dante Wesley, who signed with the team from Carolina partly because he felt he would get playing time on defense. Bears coach Lovie Smith praised Wesley after minicamp and training camp, but Devin Hester soon moved ahead of him as the fourth cornerback, and Wesley was virtually ignored down the stretch when the secondary needed to be shored up.

"I didn't understand what was going on," Wesley said. "I had to talk to the coaches and try to understand my role on this team.''

Wesley met with defensive coordinator Ron Rivera and Smith and found out his role is to play special teams. Period.

"I hate that I am in that situation," Wesley said. "I really felt I had deserved to play corner. One of the reasons I came here was to be a part of this defense. It's a hard thing to swallow. I feel like I can play corner against some of the best receivers in the league. I feel like I can give a lot more to the team.

"But my role here is just special teams, so I will try to do my best on special teams and go from there.''

Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander didn't play in the first meeting with the Bears, but he made the trip anyway despite missing the first of six straight games with a foot injury. Alexander said he had to attend because he had so many people coming to the game, including his mother, who came from his hometown of Florence, Ky.

"My wife's family is from Chicago, so that was an exciting time for my family," Alexander said. "It was a big thing because growing up, we had a lot of Chicago fans in the family."

Rivera is all business in preparing for the Seahawks, but he said interviewing last week for four head-coaching jobs was a boost to his ego and puts him in a nice position because he knows he has a great job no matter what happens.

Rivera won a Super Bowl ring with the 1985 Bears and was in the meeting room the night before the game in New Orleans when defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan announced he was leaving for the Eagles' head-coaching job.

Defensive tackle Steve McMichael picked up a chair and threw it at a chalkboard, and all four prongs stuck. Rivera laughed at the idea he might be making a similar speech to his defense.

"I would love to do what Buddy Ryan did, give a farewell speech the night before the Super Bowl," Rivera said with a laugh. "Wouldn't it be great if the last time we met together was like that. I would love to be able to tell the guys I have this opportunity because of the success we've had."