At the root of the differences between Bears` coach Mike Ditka and quarterback Jim McMahon seems to be the definition of practice.
Ditka said he had his mind made up before the game not to play McMahon against the Minnesota Vikings last week.
”I think that`s very valid,” Ditka said. ”After not throwing a pass all week, not lining up in a huddle all week, you`ve got to assume the quarterback is not going to play.”
But McMahon was supposed to be ”available.”
”But he didn`t practice,” Ditka said. ”I`ve got to go by what I saw.”
McMahon, on his WYTZ-FM radio show Tuesday, said:
”Everybody says I haven`t been practicing. That`s a bunch of b.s. I`m out there at practice. I go through all the drills. It`s just that I don`t do any throwing after I get out there at first and warm up. I throw about 30 balls and try to get my arm loose. By that time, we go into calisthenics and some different drills and I don`t throw for like a half an hour and the arm stiffens up. So I just don`t throw during the team period and everybody`s been saying I haven`t been practicing. That`s crazy. I`ve been out there at practice.
”The doctor told me to limit my throws to about 50 a week, so I don`t know what to do. It`s not that I`m not practicing at all. I`m out there; it`s just that I`m not throwing during team drills and it`s kind of upsetting to read in the paper everyday that I don`t practice.”
Since reporters are not allowed to watch practice, they must report whatever Ditka and McMahon tell them.
When McMahon was asked by reporters on Monday about his practice routine, he answered: ”I don`t know.”
When McMahon`s disc jockey asked him on Tuesday, he answered:
”If I throw hard in practice, it takes another day or two to get it
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(the arm) back to where it was before I threw. If they want me to go out there and throw hard in practice and then not be able to play Sunday, what kind of logic is that?”