Jim Dooley, who succeeded George Halas as head coach of the Chicago Bears, died Tuesday, his daughter said. He was 77. Lisa Trace said her father, who coached the Bears from 1968-71, had been ill with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, known as Lou Gehrig's disease, for the past 10 years and died at Lake Forest Hospital on Tuesday afternoon.

Lance Briggs and Bernard Berrian have California roots. Could both Bears free agents end up in the Golden State next season? At least one NFL executive expects the San Francisco 49ers to land Briggs this off-season. The 49ers were said to have tried to engineer a trade for the Pro Bowl linebacker before this season's Oct. 16 trade deadline, but league rules prohibited the Bears' franchise player from signing a long-term deal with another team. Briggs said the league's security office questioned him at midseason about the trade discussions, looking into possible tampering. His response: "I don't know anything about it." As for the latest talk of San Francisco's interest, Briggs is hardly discouraging it. He grew up in Sacramento and might welcome a change of scenery. "I would hope the 49ers are interested, as well as other teams," Briggs said Friday. "It just tells you that you are valued around this league."

Brian Urlacher was the poster child for Bears' disappointment this season. Chicago went from Super Bowl team to also-ran. Wins dropped from 13 to seven. A once-feared defense ended up 28th in the league in yards allowed per game. Not coincidentally, Urlacher didn't make his seventh Pro Bowl. At the end of October, he confirmed reports that he had a chronic back injury. On Tuesday, he refused to blame that for a subpar season. "My back got blown way out of proportion," Urlacher said Monday, according to The Chicago Tribune. "It's fine. I won't need any surgery." "If you look at the way I played the last few weeks, obviously it got a little bit better as the season went on. Early on, I didn't make as many plays as I should have. It didn't have anything to do with my back. I just didn't play well. That's all there is to it."