Enderle impresses Bears coaches

BOURBONNAIS, Ill. – The Chicago Bears allowed nine sacks in a preseason win over Buffalo on Saturday, so changes to the offensive line seemed likely.

Surprisingly, none were made at practice Monday.

Instead, the Bears had a budding backup quarterback controversy as Caleb Hanie took no snaps at practice and rookie fifth-round draft choice Nathan Enderle quarterbacked the second team.

“You look at how a guy played and that determines what type of reps he gets the following week,” coach Lovie Smith said about Hanie.

Enderle, who played at Idaho last year, completed 7 of 10 attempts for 110 yards with an interception. Hanie scored the game’s only touchdown on a 4-yard run, went 3-for-7 passing for 32 yards and was sacked three times.

Enderle said he found out about playing with the second team, “when coach (Mike) Martz yelled out my name” at Monday’s practice. “I just go in when they tell me to go in and I don’t look too much into it,” he added.

Smith did not want to call it a reward-punishment situation, but described it that way.

“He did some good things in the game,” Smith said of Enderle. “He hadn’t really gotten a lot of reps in practice right now.”

Hanie, a third-year pro from Colorado State, entered last season’s NFC championship game as a third-stringer.

When Jay Cutler sustained a game-ending knee sprain and former backup Todd Collins was ineffective filling in, Hanie came in and nearly led the Bears back from a two-touchdown deficit against Green Bay.