Seeking better health, Bears hire Andre Tucker as new head a
Feb 14, 2018 19:38:09 GMT -6
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Post by papabear7 on Feb 14, 2018 19:38:09 GMT -6
www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/ct-spt-bears-trainer-andre-tucker-20180214-story.html
Seeking better health, Bears hire Andre Tucker as new head athletic trainer
Brad Biggs
Chicago Tribune
The Bears made moves they hope will end several years of health issues that have plagued the roster and NFL sources say the team has hired Andre Tucker as its new head athletic trainer.
Tucker has 15 years of experience in the NFL and comes to the Bears from the Browns. He was the assistant head athletic trainer in Cleveland for the last eight seasons from 2010 through 2017.
Prior to that, Tucker served in the same capacity for the Falcons for three years. He was an assistant athletic trainer for the Jaguars from 2004 to 2008 and broke into the NFL as a seasonal intern with the Dolphins in 2003. Tucker has undergraduate and masters degrees from Florida International.
He replaces Nate Breske, who was fired last month after three years with the club. The Bills announced Wednesday they hired Breske as their head athletic trainer.
The Bears had 16 players placed on injured reserve last season and depth issues forced them to juggle at multiple positions, including wide receiver, offensive line and outside linebacker. The team had 21 players land on injured reserve in 2016, and there was an intense focus on what the team did and how it was done. Changes made for 2017 did not produce desired results and soft-tissue injuries remained an ongoing dilemma. Breske had been hired in 2015 when general manager Ryan Pace and coach John Fox were brought in.
Pace addressed the ongoing injury struggles the team has faced at the end of the season:
“It’s something that’s occurred three consecutive years and something we’ve looked at closely. We did a lot to address it last year, whether schedule changes, tracking data, a lot of tweaks. But it wasn’t enough. With parity in our league, injuries play a big factor in our results. It’s something we have to get on top of and that’s my job.
“There’s going to be studies into why are these teams the healthiest, why are these teams not, and are there some commonalties? But we have to get that fixed because it’s affecting our results.”
The Bears are also replacing their strength coach. It’s not known if a hire has been made yet. The Bears hired Matt Nagy as head coach on Jan. 8. His complete staff has not yet been announced.
bmbiggs@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @bradbiggs
Seeking better health, Bears hire Andre Tucker as new head athletic trainer
Brad Biggs
Chicago Tribune
The Bears made moves they hope will end several years of health issues that have plagued the roster and NFL sources say the team has hired Andre Tucker as its new head athletic trainer.
Tucker has 15 years of experience in the NFL and comes to the Bears from the Browns. He was the assistant head athletic trainer in Cleveland for the last eight seasons from 2010 through 2017.
Prior to that, Tucker served in the same capacity for the Falcons for three years. He was an assistant athletic trainer for the Jaguars from 2004 to 2008 and broke into the NFL as a seasonal intern with the Dolphins in 2003. Tucker has undergraduate and masters degrees from Florida International.
He replaces Nate Breske, who was fired last month after three years with the club. The Bills announced Wednesday they hired Breske as their head athletic trainer.
The Bears had 16 players placed on injured reserve last season and depth issues forced them to juggle at multiple positions, including wide receiver, offensive line and outside linebacker. The team had 21 players land on injured reserve in 2016, and there was an intense focus on what the team did and how it was done. Changes made for 2017 did not produce desired results and soft-tissue injuries remained an ongoing dilemma. Breske had been hired in 2015 when general manager Ryan Pace and coach John Fox were brought in.
Pace addressed the ongoing injury struggles the team has faced at the end of the season:
“It’s something that’s occurred three consecutive years and something we’ve looked at closely. We did a lot to address it last year, whether schedule changes, tracking data, a lot of tweaks. But it wasn’t enough. With parity in our league, injuries play a big factor in our results. It’s something we have to get on top of and that’s my job.
“There’s going to be studies into why are these teams the healthiest, why are these teams not, and are there some commonalties? But we have to get that fixed because it’s affecting our results.”
The Bears are also replacing their strength coach. It’s not known if a hire has been made yet. The Bears hired Matt Nagy as head coach on Jan. 8. His complete staff has not yet been announced.
bmbiggs@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @bradbiggs