Sitton liked the idea of staying in the division and was motivated to make a decision quickly in order to pick up a playbook and get ready for the start of the season.
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The Packers signed long snapper Brett Goode and claimed RB Jhurell Pressley off waivers from the Vikings. “I think he texted me and said, ‘I got cut.’ I texted him back and said, ‘Yeah, me, too'”. Since 2009, Sitton had started 110 of 112 possible regular-season games, by far the most durable and dependable player on the Packers’ line.
The Bears weren’t the only suitor for Sitton’s services, but they made the most sense for him and his family.
Said left tackle David Bakhtiari: “It’s definitely not ideal, but it’s an adjustment that, we’re professionals, we’re going to have to work on the fly”. “He’s right up the road”. We had a few other teams interested.
Asked how he feels about the team’s chemistry at this point, McCarthy replied, “Chemistry is not something where you go, ‘We’ve got it.’ I know everybody talks about [how] chemistry is when you have a level of success or at the end of a season”.
It’s not every day an National Football League team can land, a week before the start of the regular season, an offensive lineman who was named a Pro Bowler and an All Pro the previous year.
When I heard the news that Sitton was released, I couldn’t believe it. Green Bay won 20-12. So that was actually kind of a factor.
“It didn”t have anything to do with sticking it to the Packers,” said Sitton, who is from Pensacola, Fla. “I mean, we know just as much as you guys do – the reasoning behind it, I don’t know, I don’t want to speculate on any of that”, Lang said. I like the weather up here.
The loss of Sitton won’t be easy to overcome.
Sitton is just one man, but assuming the Packers don’t have knowledge on Sitton the Bears lack, his arrival in Chicago is huge – both literally and figuratively.
The Bears can now move Whitehair to center, where he can compete with Larsen for the starting gig – although with Sitton and Long on either side, it doesn’t really matter who wins out at center. “I think I’ve said that the last two years, and frankly health is always important”.
Pace said director of player personnel Josh Lucas and pro scouting director Champ Kelly had the team prepared for a multitude of scenarios over the weekend, and the grades on Sitton were strong.
“First of all, the skins are on the wall”, explained Pace on Monday.
Three-time Pro Bowl guard Josh Sitton (71) had several offers but signed with the Bears.
“If Sitton and Long can make the X”s and O”s look like art when they team up during games, Pace”s aggressive play will be rewarded. You already can see the residual benefits. “I’ve been here the entire time with him, so whenever you lose not just a good football player but also a really close friend, it’s hard”. “What are the reasons?’ That’s when you do a ton of research”.
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Sitton will spend his first week with the Bears trying to gain a firmer grasp of the offense as his new team prepares for Sunday’s season opener against the Texans in Houston. “He’s learning an offense. And I think if there’s any kind of end points to that energy flow, then you’re not going to have a totally connected team”, Rodgers explained during a almost two-hour interview on “Wilde & Tausch” on ESPN Wisconsin.
