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Topic subjectWell, it's official. Jeff Blake's a Bear.
Topic URLhttp://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=21&topic_id=29305&mesg_id=29540
29540, Well, it's official. Jeff Blake's a Bear.
Posted by LiquidDope, Mon Aug-15-05 06:17 AM
Yee-hah. http://www.chicagobears.com/news/newsDetail.jsp?id=9848

BOURBONNAIS, Ill. - With Rex Grossman scheduled to undergo surgery on his broken left ankle Monday afternoon, the Bears on Sunday agreed to terms with quarterback Jeff Blake.

The 14-year veteran will compete for the third-string position behind starter Chad Hutchinson and backup Kyle Orton, coach Lovie Smith said Sunday.

"Right now our top two guys will be Chad and Kyle and then Jeff will work in after that," Smith said. "As we've said all along we feel real good about the guys we have here right now. We're going to bring him in as another quarterback that we'll be working with and really kind of go from there."

The Bears will be Blake's seventh team. The 6-1, 223-pounder has completed 56.3 percent of his career passes for 21,656 yards with 133 touchdowns, 99 interceptions and a 77.9 quarterback rating for the New York Jets (1992-93), Cincinnati Bengals (1994-99), New Orleans Saints (2000-01), Baltimore Ravens (2002), Arizona Cardinals (2003) and Philadelphia Eagles (2004).

Blake appeared in just three games with no starts for the Eagles last season, completing 18 of 37 passes for 126 yards with 1 TD, 1 interception and a 54.6 quarterback rating.

The 34-year-old started 13 games for the Cardinals in 2003, connecting on 208 of 367 passes for 2,247 yards with 13 TDs, 15 interceptions and a 69.6 quarterback rating.

"Jeff is a guy that's played in the league for a while," Smith said. "He was available right now and he's a good fit for where we are right now.

"We had a chance to talk with him earlier and he's been working out. But working out's one thing. Getting in football shape's another and we'll just start the process from here."

Two days after Grossman was lost for 3-4 months, Smith on Sunday reiterated his support for Hutchinson and said that Blake wouldn't be coming in to challenge for the No. 1 job.

"He's our starter," Smith said of Hutchinson. "It's as simple as that. He's our guy and we're going from there, but you need three quarterbacks. Chad isn't looking over his shoulder. He's our guy and we can't wait to see him lead us."