| | By John Clayton
ESPN.com
PLATTEVILLE, Wis. -- By last Halloween, Curtis Enis looked in the mirror and felt like he must have been wearing a disguise. The big back felt like a lightweight.
Worried about how his 255-pound body would endanger his
reconstructed left knee, Enis entered last season a trim 235 pounds with a
trimmer amount of body fat. He said it didn't feel right.
|  | | Curtis Enis should be able to back up his running with some bulk. |
"I never played that light since high school," said the Chicago Bears halfback, who added he got knocked around much more than usual. "I had lost too much weight. I was banged around too much that it just caught up to me."
His weight dropped to 225 pounds. His knee ached and swelled
slightly. A toe injury nagged him. At a charity function, Enis needed help
to walk to the podium, he was so sore.
As camp grinds on for the Bears this week, the old Enis is back. He's 255
pounds and frisky again. Though he is maturing into a quieter model at the age
of 24, he both talked and leveled a little smack on his defensive teammates
during practice Tuesday.
They were glad to see the old Enis return.
"Hopefully this year I can get in there, get a lot of yardage and
erase that 3.2-yard average," Enis said. "It was humbling. Now, I'm back
to my fighting weight. I get another chance to go out and fight and kick for
every yard."
The timing couldn't be better. The Bears are trying to make the
switch from a 6-10 perennial loser to a playoff contender. Financially, he
can turn this season into a big bang for his buck because he is in the last
year of his contract.
He'll be a restricted free agent after this season.
"It came quickly," Enis said of his first three seasons of a
three-year deal with the Bears. "It's not really the contract year that
motivates me. It's getting back to playing Curtis Enis football."
Offensive coordinator Gary Crowton has plans for some interesting ways of
playing Enis this season. Along with keeping Enis as the main running back,
Crowton wants to line him up as a lone back against base defense formations and
send running back James Allen or promising rookie Frank Murphy into receiver
formations. That will give Enis the ability to come out of the backfield
against a linebacker for a pass, run a draw or help block for the
quarterback.
|
“ |
It's not really the
contract year that motivates me. It's getting back to playing Curtis Enis
football. ” |
|
|
— Curtis Enis, Bears running back |
"We can get some mismatches that way," Crowton said. "It's nice
to have him back there. He's more physical. When he hits somebody now, he
doesn't get knocked back or off sideways."
Enis gained 916 yards on 287 carries but faded down the stretch.
After 187 carries during the first eight games -- an average of 23 a game -- he had 100 over the final seven and didn't play in the final game.
"It was strange for Curtis because last year he didn't want to run
around on that knee with the extra weight," receiver Bobby Engram said.
"But that's his style. He's a power back. I don't think last year he had the
power in the knee, but this is his second year off the operation and he's
ready to mix it up."
Though his numbers weren't great, Enis drew praise from head coach
Dick Jauron, who rated him the best blocking back in the NFL.
"The guy has an unbelievable work ethic and the extra weight should
help balance him," Jauron said. "At one point in the offseason, he got up
to 264 pounds, but that was too much. He didn't feel good about that."
Enis learned one thing last year -- bigger is better.
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Clayton's postcard from Bears camp
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Chicago Bears
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Curtis Enis comments on Cade McNown's rookie year.
wav: 124 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Curtis Enis talks about gaining a lot of positive rushing yards this year.
wav: 145 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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