"If you noticed, most of the initial media reports about the death of Brian Urlacher's mom eventually got around to whether he would play Sunday against the New Orleans Saints.

There wasn't anything callous or unfeeling about it. If anything, that element should have been higher up in the stories for the simple reason that it was on the minds of most Bears' fans — right behind the question of how she died and the sadness they felt that anyone's mother should pass away at the tender age of 51.

The consensus in all of the stories was unwritten but understood: Of course he's going to play. And the consensus was correct. He was back at practice Thursday, three days after his mother, Lavoyda, had died of unknown causes. He was to be in Lovington, N.M., for her funeral Saturday and in New Orleans on Sunday for a noon kickoff. "