Brian Urlacher Has Neck Surgery; Bears Cross Their Fingers - FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

One of the few bright spots of the Bear season was the play of Brian Urlacher over the season's final month. After struggling with numerous aches and pains, Urlacher was playing near his old level in the last few games and wreaking havoc on opposing offenses. That made the prospect of losing Lance Briggs to free agency easier to bear and erased any whispers that the middle linebacker might have reached the downside of his career.

That effort took something out of Urlacher, however. During his postseason physical, doctors discovered a problem with his lower neck and, yesterday, they performed surgery to try and correct it. Everyone's optimistic about his recovery and his readiness for training camp but its neck surgery.

Urlacher struggled with an arthritic back last year. He's 30, has always played like a heat-seeking missile and, rosy projections or not, you'd have to be the most confident man in the world not to worry about the fitness of his spine. Rick Morrissey of the Chicago Tribune wonders if this isn't just a case of the tight-lipped Bears keeping info close to their vest.

Is that what we're seeing now? The deterioration of a great player whose neck might have been jarred one too many times? Or is it just what the ever-secretive Bears likely will say it is-routine? A simple mop-up operation?

Will this alter their approach to Briggs negotiations?

Even if they halt the preliminary discussions with Urlacher about an extension, it's hard to see them coming up with enough cash to keep the free agent. The rest of the linebackers on the free market aren't too exciting but the Bears will need to have a Plan B in case Urlacher's neck isn't sound enough to go come July. Even that might not be enough.

Any reasonable projection for a Bear rebound in '08 includes a Pro Bowl season from Urlacher. He's that important to the defense and that important to the hopes for a winning season.