With NFL offenses growing faster each season, the Chicago Bears, in recent seasons, devised a plan of their own to slow the league's up-tempo attacks.
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Faking injuries.
"We had a guy who was the designated dive guy," Urlacher said Tuesday on Fox Sports 1, via the Chicago Sun-Times.
Urlacher went on to describe how a Bears assistant would mimic a swimmer's diving motion from the sideline to initiate the ploy, which often came on long drives when the defense needed a breather. Urlacher wouldn't reveal the assistant, saying: "It wasn't coached, but it was part of our game plan."
It's not an act the league permits, of course, but we've seen hints of it for years. The New York Giants were accused of faking injuries during a nationally televised 28-13 victory over the St. Louis Rams in 2011. Long before that, renowned Seattle Seahawks coach Chuck Knox once admitted his nose tackle, Joe Nash, faked injuries four times to stop the clock against the no-huddle offense of the Cincinnati Bengals during a 1988 AFC divisional playoff tilt.
Accusations of faking injuries are nothing new, but you don't see players outing their former teams often. The Bears can't be thrilled with Urlacher's early run as a talking head.
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