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player ready...Mark Carrier plays free safety for the Detroit Lions now instead of the Bears. On Sunday, he hopes to use his intimate knowledge of the Bears and eight years of NFL experience to his advantage in Soldier Field.
Until then, he is using his education as a communications major at USC to his advantage.
Carrier has nothing but praise for Bears coach Dave Wannstedt, struggling young running back Rashaan Salaam, the Curtis Conway-less Bears’ offense, volatile ex-teammate Bryan Cox, successor John Mangum and even Soldier Field. If Carrier’s future doesn’t include a media career, there is always politics.
During training camp, Carrier said the Bears’ treatment of him disappointed and baffled him. They wanted him to take a pay cut that would have made him low man in the secondary. It would have undermined him as the veteran leader and, he added, “as a person.”
But opening his mouth before Sunday would only open wounds. When the Lions lost to the Buccaneers last week, Carrier decided he barely could afford to think about coming back, let alone dwell on it.
“My head’s been spinning enough here,” he said.
The wristbands reminding him of formations and defensive calls are testimony to an old dog trying to learn new tricks.
“I’ve played it in my mind a hundred times and talked it over with family and friends. But the way we played last week overshadowed everything. If we had won, I’d talk more about going in there,” Carrier said. “It will be strange, no doubt about it.”
The only thing worse than coming off a loss is having an opponent coming off a loss as well. Carrier would have preferred a Bears victory over Minnesota.
“Coach Wannstedt is very good with his players after a tough loss getting them ready to play. I have no doubt they’ll be ready against us,” Carrier said.
How is Wannstedt good?
“He’s a very positive person. He emphasizes on positives,” Carrier said. “He goes back to basics, simplifies things and shows players exactly what happened from film and explains how it can be corrected. He doesn’t break players down. He builds up their self-esteem and they come back ready to play.
“He’s a good coach. It’s a tough place to go and play and coach in Chicago, no doubt about it. But Dave’s a tough person. He’ll land. He’ll end up on top. He’ll be fine.”
Carrier said he hasn’t talked to any ex-teammates since training camp began, but he watched the Bears’ Monday night opener and wasn’t surprised by Bryan Cox’s tirade.
“I’ve seen Bryan enough. Bryan’s an intense player, and he never pulls back on what he believes and feels strongly about,” Carrier said. “He plays with that type of passion, and always plays that way. You wish every player had that type of passion to play the game.”
Barry Sanders said the Lions seemed to lack passion against the Bucs. Carrier agreed, of course.
“We were trying to match theirs instead of them matching our level. You can see what happens. You can be down 17-0 before you realize the intensity level is not where it needs to be. Then it’s too late,” Carrier said.
Carrier said he is “very happy” for Mangum, who was a sixth-round draft choice in 1990 when Carrier was No. 1. He said it hasn’t sunk in yet that he won’t be chasing the injured Conway.
“As a personal friend, not seeing Curtis is tough, but as an opponent, I’m happy he’s not on the field. He’s like Barry in a way. Anytime the ball touches his hands, he has the ability to make things happen,” he said.
Carrier quickly added: “They haven’t lost anything; they’ve put points on the board and moved the ball without Curtis.”
As for Soldier Field: “I’m a tradition guy. Players have to respect tradition, because we’re not just playing the people across the field. You’re representing tradition and you want to uphold it.”
Carrier admitted Soldier Field might feel friendly to more than one Lion who has heard boos in the Silverdome the first two weeks.
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“When you’re struggling, sometimes the best thing you can do is get on the road because now you know you’re going to get booed,” Carrier said. “Then you really have to focus in on the people around you. You have to block the crowd noise out and play football.”
Salaam, for example, probably would just as soon be playing in the Silverdome.
“I just feel for Rashaan,” Carrier said. “No one works harder and puts more effort into the game. He’s always trying to help his team. Unfortunately, those fumbles happen and cause people to talk about that. He’s a nice guy and a good, hard-nosed player. Unfortunately, he has that mark on him.”
Carrier doesn’t feel enough sympathy to refrain from stripping Salaam if they happen to meet Sunday.
“If the roles were reversed, I would expect him to try to strip me,” Carrier said. “He knows that better than anybody.”