Healthy Bradley not looking back

Oft-injured receiver gives Bears another big-play threat

Wide receiver Mark Bradley's history in Chicago has been one of great promise followed by injury. Bradley, who has been bothered by a sprained right ankle, will avoid a fate no player wants and will be available to play Sunday in Super Bowl XLI against the Indianapolis Colts.

''It wasn't very severe, so it was a little easier an injury to overcome than a high ankle sprain,'' Bradley said.

The ankle, which he hurt Jan. 14 in the Bears' divisional playoff game against the Seattle Seahawks, has healed enough that he has been removed from the injury report.

Being able to go on Sunday allows Bradley to experience what his father and agent, Danny, experienced while working in the Dallas Cowboys front office in 1995. The Cowboys were the NFL champions that season after defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-17 in Super Bowl XXX.

At the time, Mark Bradley was a teenager.

''I want us to win this game so badly because I've seen how the outcome was when I was a kid,'' he said. ''I saw how fun and excited they were at the time, and I can relate a little bit to that.''

During the 2005 season, Bradley played in seven games, starting four. In the Bears' seventh game, Oct. 30 at Detroit, he totaled 88 yards on five catches in the first half. But late in the second quarter, he tore ligaments in his right knee, an injury that sidelined him for the rest of the season.

''I felt it was the game that might have separated me from being a rookie to being an elite player,'' Bradley said. ''After that injury took place, it was more, 'Dang, I'm back to square one.'

''I think that was the toughest part mentally, because going to each game and going to practices and watching everyone go out and practice ... I'm sitting there watching the rest of the season.''

Early this season, he was sidelined by a sprained ankle. He was inactive for six of the first eight games.

But in November, Bradley got his chance during the Bears' back-to-back games in New York against the Giants and Jets. Over those two games, he totaled eight catches for 159 yards and two touchdowns.

Bradley then faded into the background, finishing the regular season with 14 catches and 282 yards and three touchdowns.

Considering the Colts' injury woes in their secondary, the Bears could benefit from having as many healthy wide receivers as possible. Colts safety Bob Sanders (knee) will play, while cornerback Nick Harper (ankle) is a game-time decision.

Against the Colts' cover-2 scheme, any playing time Bradley gets might be to stretch the field to open the middle for Rashied Davis or Muhsin Muhammad.

''You go back to the history of the cover-2 -- the weakness is the deep middle area,'' Bears head coach Lovie Smith said.

Bradley would cherish any chance to contribute Sunday, whether it's using his speed on deep patterns or making yards after a catch over the middle.

''I think every guy in the receiving corps has a different talent,'' he said. ''[Muhammad] is the head of the receiving corps. He's a guy who will get the job done and get big catches. Bernard [Berrian] is the one who stretches the field. Rashied is a guy who has very good quickness, and he is very slick out there on the field. Justin [Gage] is a huge target who has great size and has the ability to go up and get balls.

''I just try to take a little bit from each one of them and try to piece it together. I want to be a complete receiver.''

Sun-Times News Group