Bears quarterback Rex Grossman says he learned an important lesson by not giving it "100 percent" while preparing for Chicago's regular-season finale against the Green Bay Packers last Sunday.
The lesson?
"In this league, especially at this position, you have to bring it every single week, no matter what," Grossman told the Chicago Sun-Times for Thursday's editions. "And the situation was I felt like I was going to play about a half, and it was the last game, it was New Year's Eve -- there were so many other factors that brought my focus away from what is actually important, and that's something that I am never going to do again.
"There is too much I am responsible for to not give it 100 percent during the week and just the full attention," Grossman said. "It's another lesson."
In the grand scheme of things, the game meant little -- at least to the Bears, who'd already clinched home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.
Grossman, whose inconsistent play during a 13-3 season has fueled talk that Brian Griese should be taking more snaps, delivered a dreadful performance. He was 2-for-12 passing for 33 yards with three interceptions -- two returned for touchdowns -- and a lost fumble in the 26-7 defeat.
"The next couple of days, I may think about it more," Grossman told the Sun-Times. "But there's going to come a time where I am going to completely forget about it and move on. It was a meaningless game. I won't dwell on it too much. I definitely want to learn from it.
"You're going to see a focused and intense quarterback."
Offensive coordinator Ron Turner said the team's preparation -- not just Grossman's -- showed against the Packers.
"[Grossman's] still a young player," Turner told the newspaper, "and he's still learning the intensity and the preparation and everything that goes along with it and that you have to have that every week. But he wasn't the only one who didn't play well."