Bears hire Richard Dent as Assistant Oline Coach...presumably to coach the DEs in pass rushing. Think it means a run at Suggs?
http://www.chicagobears.com/news/in...rsnews_module.cfm&include=&show_headline=true
Suggs hits second speed bump
By Larry Mayer
Senior Writer
April 18, 2003
LAKE FOREST, Ill. - Terrell Suggs had few problems defeating opponents that lined up across from him last season when he set an NCAA record with 24 sacks. But the Arizona State defensive end hasn't fared nearly as well against stopwatches this spring.
Suggs, one of the prospects the Bears are believed to be considering with the fourth pick in the April 26-27 draft, failed to improve on disappointing times in the 40-yard dash at a private workout Friday on the ASU campus.
The session was scheduled to help Suggs attempt to redeem himself after being clocked between 4.77 and 4.83 seconds in the 40 at a March 26 workout in Tempe. Most scouts expected the 6-3, 258-pounder to run in the 4.6 to 4.7 range.
Bears general manager Jerry Angelo said that Suggs was timed in the "high 4.8s-4.9 range" Friday.
"The workout was about the same as it was the last time in terms of his 40-time," Angelo said. "He did not do anything else except drill work, which he was good at. So really nothing's changed. The short of it is he can't run fast."
The disappointing times have left many scouts wondering if the 18 pounds Suggs has gained since dominating as a junior last season has diminished his remarkable quickness.
"My 40 times were a bit slow, but I can't really complain," Suggs said. "I'm a lot heavier, but that's no excuse. I think I can still play and get better."
Angelo was surprised by Suggs' first poor workout and conceded that it would be factored into the evaluation process. But he also insisted last week that it would not preclude the Bears from drafting Suggs.
"It won't set him back," Angelo said at the time. "He's still going to go very high. I'm not ruling him out based on the workout because the guy has a lot of great tape. Don't minimize what he's done in terms of his production at a major level. You don't want to get too carried away on the workout."
Bears all-time leading sacker Richard Dent, who rejoined the team last week as an assistant defensive line coach, believes that Suggs' 24 sacks are a better indication of his potential than his 40 times.
"It's all about on the field," Dent said. "Jerry Rice had a poor 40, but look at him now, he's world class. The 40 is OK, but it all comes down to will. If you've got the will, there's a way."
In other news, the Jacksonville Jaguars took a pass on Bears salary cap casualty Marcus Robinson.
"They said they weren't interested," Robinson's agent, Ken Sarnoff, told The Florida Times-Union. "They're right up against the salary cap and said they're not going to do anything with free agents until after the draft, if then."
Sarnoff told The Washington Post that he plans on contacting the Redskins about the veteran receiver, who was released by the Bears on Wednesday.
