Mannelly ‘floored’ Briggs would skip practice for restaurant

One of Lance Briggs’ longtime teammates is troubled that the veteran linebacker would miss practice six days before the season opener to attend his restaurant’s grand opening in California.

Patrick Mannelly, who recently retired after spending the last 16 seasons with the Chicago Bears, knows Briggs, knows coach Marc Trestman and knows how the situation that unfolded Monday might be received in the locker room.

“There’s a limited amount of time they have as a unit in meetings and the practice field,” Mannelly said Tuesday morning on the debut of the Spiegel and Mannelly show on WSCR-AM 670.

“I don’t understand why Coach Trestman let him take that day off. The other thing is, today is their day off. Why didn’t he go today? I’m floored. As a teammate, if they missed OTAs for whatever reason—if they had a charity golf tournament—I just didn’t understand that, either. You need to give your full commitment to the team.”

Trestman’s decision to excuse Briggs from Monday’s practice is at least a curious one. Seven days before the season-opener against the Bills, Briggs did not work out with a defense that still is trying to jell after some unconvincing exhibition game performances.

That Briggs would skip practice to attend the grand opening of his restaurant in California seems to go against the commitment and leadership-by-example previously shown by the 11-year veteran.

When Briggs was recovering from a fractured left shoulder last season, he was a vocal presence during walkthroughs, trying to help rookie linebackers Jon Bostic and Khaseem Greene learn their responsibilities. So maybe there’s more to this story.

Trestman said he excused Briggs for personal reasons and declined to elaborate Monday.

So with no additional insight from the team or Briggs’ representative, we’re left with a handful of pictures of Briggs at the restaurant, tweeted by the player himself.

Briggs is expected to be available to reporters Wednesday.

VOTE: Do you think it was OK for Briggs to miss a practice to attend his restaurant opening?