Archuleta sent to the bench

The Bears’ flagship radio partner WBBM kicked off its coverage of today’s game by announcing that strong safety Adam Archuleta has been benched.

Archuleta will be replaced in the starting lineup by Brandon McGowan.

It’s a bold move by the coaching staff, which had lauded Archuleta’s arrival from Washington for a sixth-round pick. The veteran struggled last week against Denver, and has not had a good season.

“I dont know [why hes struggled] and I know that hes very disappointed about the way things have gone, defensive coordinator Bob Babich said. “But hes working hard to correct the things that hes done up to this point, you know, the things that need to get corrected, and hes going to keep working hard.

“He comes down, he watches extra tape, he always is asking questions on the field, wants to make sure that hes doing the way that we would like him to do it. I think that he has a great attitude.

The move will be interesting because McGowan has made his share of mistakes when he’s been on the field.