Warren Sapp talks about his former D-line coach Rod Marinelli and Bears DT Tommie Harris

Warren Sapp, the future Hall of Fame defensive tackle, has long credited Rod Marinelli with his success in the league. He joined Mully & Hanley the other day on the Score, 670-AM to talk about Marinelli and the Bears' prized defensive tackle Tommie Harris.

Here's the interview with Warren:

WHAT ARE THE BEARS GETTING IN ROD MARINELLI?

Warren Sapp: The architect of the one of the greatest pass rushes the NFL has ever known. We went on a string of 70 straight games with a sack. It was all of us. That was our little string. Him, it was all of us. We attacked quarterbacks like it was nobody's business. I just spoke to him the other day. He said, `Yeah, it's going to be fun again. Here we go.' He has a good group and he's excited. I spoke to him [Tuesday] night and said he was packing up and going to Chicago today. Look out Windy City, here comes the man.

IS IT THE X'S AND O'S OF ROD MARINELLI OR IS IT SOMETHING ELSE?

Warren Sapp: No, it's the passion. It's his conviction. You don't see many men stand and do what he did up in Detroit, going 0-16 and people attacking him and talking about his daughter and different stuff. He's a man of dignity who served his country in the Vietnam War. I love the man. I absolutely adore him because he took me on a path to greatness and wouldn't let me deter off it even a little bit. After I won my defensive player of the year award, he looked at me said, `Let's see if your play can catch up with your athletic ability.'

I said, `What do you mean my athletic ability?'

He said, `What can you do?'

I said, `I can do anything.'

He said, `Well, let's see.'

I came back and up put 16 1/2 [sacks] so he'll challenge you in a way that just is going to push your boundaries. If [Adewale] Ogunleye and Alex Brown and Tommie Harris and the rest of them, [Israel Idonije] and [Marcus Harrison] and the rest of those guys up there buy into a system that lives off the front four, that's what the defense does, it lives off the front four. If they want that, greatness is right in front of them. Just go get it.

HOW DID ROD MARINELLI MAKE YOU A BETTER PLAYER?

Warren Sapp: I tell you, it's boots on the ground. I went in there and we worked everyday. I was in there with Eric Curry and some of those old-school Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Santana Dotson, and Mark Wheeler, big grunt guys that held up the place, did a great job. It is what it is. We were going a different direction. We started doing those pass-rushing drills where we were hanging and on our toes and we came out like the third day in a row and we were all looking at each other, me, Regan [Upshaw] and all those young guys like, `Yeah, let's go!' They looked at us, and turned to Rod and said, `Are we going to do this every day?' That let's you know who wants it and who doesn't, trust me, my friend. We used to call it 30 minutes of hell. It will be an absolute grind the first 30 minutes of practice because you have to put the work in on the practice field to be able to go out on Sunday and have the type of fun that defense will allow you to have as a group.

TOMMIE HARRIS HAS THE KNEE ISSUE AND WE KNOW HIS PRACTICE WAS LIMITED DURING THE WEEK. HOW DOES HE GO THROUGH THE 30 MINUTES OF HELL THAT MAKES YOU THAT PLAYER ON SUNDAY AND YOU HAVE THE KNEE AND YOU CAN'T GET THAT THING RIGHT?

Warren Sapp: I guarantee you he is going to be healthy this year and if he's not, it will be obvious. You have to put him together before he gets there. Rod will do a great job with that. He's always done a great job with me because I had a little trick knee sometimes and I didn't practice at times but you know when you need to grind and the grind happens. I talked to Tommie the other day and I told him, `Me and you are going to start this offseason as soon as I get out of Tampa [after Super Bowl XLIII] buddy because the under tackle position is something that not many people even want to be talked about because it's not a defensive tackle and it's not something else, it's an under tackle, a unique guy that goes both ways, that does special things. I only know two other ones other than myself and that's John Randle and Keith Millard that even consider themselves as under tackles. If you want to be in that class with me and those other two dudes, we're going to have to look each other in the eye and we're going to have to talk about this the right way and see what he's thinking. Because if he's not thinking about it the right way, with me and Rod, we're going to get some work out of Tommie, I guarantee you this because he's too good of a player to be sitting in that system looking like he's not a player.

SO YOU ARE GOING TO WORK WITH TOMMIE?

Warren Sapp: I am going to work with him, yes.

Dusty's ruptured biceps forces him to end his season

Nose tackle Dusty Dvoracek will miss the final four games after rupturing his right biceps during
a loss at Minnesota on Sunday night, his third season-ending injury in his time in the NFL.

Dvoracek was injured on the opening drive and headed straight to the locker room.

"It's very hard for a guy like Dusty," coach Lovie Smith said Monday. "No one works harder than him. He's a tough guy. It's just unfortunate. If you look at how he injured his arm, it's a typical play that he's made plenty of times. It happens."

"It's disheartening knowing the adversity he's been through in the past," defensive tackle Tommie Harris said. "To keep continuing to go through this each year is very disheartening, especially having the season that he was having."

Defensive tackles Marcus Harrison and Anthony Adams will fill in for the injured Dvoracek

Look for Israel Idonije to get big money some time soon

Israel Idonije started again in Tommie Harris' place this Sunday at Detroit and recorded three solo tackles and a pass deflection.

Idonije recorded a sack the week before against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Although Idonije is only signed through next season, don't be shocked if he makes the list of players whose contract the Bears want to extend.

Idonije turns 28 next month and seems to improve with more responsibility.

He has gone from a part-time end and special-teams player to having a defined role at tackle.

He moved from defensive end to defensive tackle and gained about 35 pounds this offseason.

Both head coach Lovie Smith and general manager Jerry Angelo have said a team never can have enough quality defensive tackles.

Lovie on Israel Idonije's play this season:

''Israel has taken advantage of every opportunity we've given him since he's been here."

''He played very well [Sunday], like he has the last couple weeks, and he hasn't peaked yet. He has a lot of ability, and I only see him getting better. ''But that's what we would like for all of our players, to take advantage of opportunities when we give it to them.''

The Bears defensive tackle rotation is much better than last seasons and i think even better than the Super Bowl season.

With Tommie Harris, Dusty Dvoraceck, Israel Idonije, Anthony Adams, and Marcus Harrison they look really solid.