ALAMEDA -- Chicago Pro Bowl linebacker Brian Urlacher has faith in the Bears' replacement quarterback. Even if Caleb Hanie has thrown all of 14 passes in his three-year NFL career."He's on the scout team, reading those cards," Urlacher said Wednesday on a conference call with Bay Area reporters. "He picks us apart in scout team. It's very frustrating, because he knows where the ball is going before the ball's snapped. He throws a nice ball. He's a mobile guy."
Hanie, who was undrafted out of Colorado State, played in the NFC title game for the Bears last January against Green Bay when Jay Cutler left with a knee injury. Hanie completed 13 of 20 for 153 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. He has familiarity with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's quick-strike system."Tough situation for him to come in, but he did lead us to two scoring drives at the end of the game and kept us in the game a little bit, but he knows the offense," Urlacher said. "He's been here for two years, the whole time coach Martz has been here, so he should know what to do with all of our checks and everything. So we're not going to drop off too much, I don't think."Still, Urlacher acknowledged the Bears have to pick things up with Cutler out."Yeah, not just on defense," Urlacher said. "Everyone feels that way. We lost our leader for a few weeks here so we've got to pick it up a little bit and everyone's got to try and do more, if that's even possible. It's hard to do that in the NFL and we've just got to try and find a way to make some more plays."
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