Lovie Smith spoke about many different subjects about the Bears team. He first talked about adding a veteran QB to backup Jay Cutler.

Here’s what he had to say:

“It wouldn’t be a bad thing if we end up with a veteran, and that has nothing to do with Caleb Hanie.”

“We think Caleb is a heck of a football player. But, when you do go with two quarterbacks, it is a little scary each week. You never know.”

Smith said a veteran could be a sounding board for Cutler and likened that player to a second coach.

“Probably more so than any other position, you can have even an older veteran around because unless there’s an injury, it’s not like he’s going to be physically beat up every day.”

Other random things that Lovie Smith talked about are:

-Devin Hester will be a full-time receiver and also handle punt returns. So no kickoff returns for him.

-Brian Urlacher is healthy and said on two occasions that the middle linebacker is still “the face of the franchise.”

-He expects “pretty much 100 percent” of his players to attend the start of the voluntary off-season conditioning program on Monday.

-He hasn’t committed Julius Peppers to one side.

-He would like to “lock” Israel Idonije into defensive end more than tackle and “see how good he can be” (on the outside).

-He fully engaged tight end Greg Olsen when the team was looking to add an offensive coordinator and before they added tight end Brandon Manumaleuna.

-Smith reinforced that the Bears will not become a pass-heavy team. “We’re in Chicago. It’s not going to change. We’ll continue to run the football. We just want to be able to pass the football, too.”

-Nick Roach will, at this point, get the initial looks at strongside linebacker, ahead of Hunter Hillenmeyer and Jamar Williams.

-He was on board with the team’s decision to vote yes for the new overtime rule modification. “We voted for the rule, so that’s what I liked. That’s it.”

-Smith said the club felt it was time to give cornerback Nathan Vasher a chance at a fresh start. “You want to be fair with the veterans.”

-He said Adewale Ogunleye is officially done with the Bears and he is not returning this season to Chicago.

all quotes from chicagosuntimes.com