Rough town
Rex Grossman got the Chicago Bears to the Super Bowl last year. But to hear some tell, the guy who leads the Bears against the Chargers this Sunday may as well be the 33rd best quarterback in a 32-team league.
"We went 15-4," Grossman said Wednesday on a conference call interview with San Diego media. "I had some of the best games of my life. We won the NFC championship, won the NFC North. There were about five games that were really bad that excused all of the positive things that happened for me personally.
"I don't really keep my ear to the ground (to gauge) the pulse of what's being said. ... The season hasn't started, so people shouldn't form opinions as of yet."
Bears coach Lovie Smith acknowledges that the team has talked to Grossman about the criticism he has received from the outside.
"He's held up well," Smith said. "Being a quarterback, you know that when you play well you'll get a lot of credit and when the team doesn't play well you'll receive most of the blame. Rex has been a quarterback all his life. He's learned to deal with that. I think it's made him a better player, having to go thorugh all of this adversity.
"We're talking a lot about criticism, however he's also faced a lot of injuries as well. He missed the year before last due to injury. That's only made him a tougher player and we like him leading our team."