The Associated Press

LAKE FOREST, Ill. - Looking at general manager Jerry Angelo's "to do" list, it's not hard to figure out the Chicago Bears' priorities. Hire a quarterbacks coach. Draft a young quarterback. Try and find a veteran quarterback through free agency. See a trend developing?

"We are not going to leave any stone unturned on this," Angelo said Thursday. "We just have to get this thing resolved. And if it doesn't, it's not going to be for lack of effort."

If it seems as though the Bears always are searching for a quarterback, well, they pretty much are. Chicago has been trying to find a franchise quarterback since Jim McMahon left, with little success.

Jim Harbaugh had promise, but he was only a starter for four seasons, morphing into "Captain Comeback" with the Indianapolis Colts. Erik Kramer had health problems. Does anybody even remember Steve Stenstrom or Moses Moreno? Don't even bring up the Cade McNown debacle.

The current guy, Jim Miller, has had the most success - he led Chicago to its first playoff appearance in six years in 2001 - and his teammates love playing for him. But he has durability issues, missing parts of each of the last three seasons because of injury.

He's recuperating from shoulder surgery now, and hopes to be ready for training camp.

Making the situation more dire is Miller's current backup, Chris Chandler, is even more fragile. The quarterback shuffle was so bad last season that Henry Burris started the season finale.

"I have tremendous respect for our Jim Miller and what he's done here, as well as Chris Chandler," Angelo said. "I'm not minimizing and I don't want it to be like they're yesterday's news. But we understand the volatility of the position, and durability was a real problem this year.

"We do not want to relive that nightmare with our football team."

Thus, the Bears are spending yet another offseason searching for a quarterback.

Angelo said he's "committed" to getting a young quarterback in the draft, but he's not likely to do it with Chicago's No. 4 pick. Fans might grouse about not getting Carson Palmer or Byron Leftwich, but the Bears have been down the rookie QB road with McNown, and look at how well that turned out.

Instead, the Bears will try and follow the lead of other successful teams in the league. Get a solid, veteran quarterback, and let the youngster learn behind him for a few years.

"I did a little research. Going back since free agency began in '93, I think there have been 13 quarterbacks drafted in first round," Angelo said. "Kerry Collins was the only one who played and had a winning record. Most of them didn't.

"When you're looking around the league, the veteran is the safest route to go. We're going to look and explore in all areas, but we'll start with them."

And this is as good a year as any to do it. While the Bears won't know for certain who's available until the end of the month, Kordell Stewart, Jake Plummer, Shaun King and Brian Griese are expected to be among the possibilities.

Ideally, the Bears would have a veteran in place before the draft, allowing them to use their top pick on something else, like, say a pass rusher.

"We don't want to get just anybody. He's got to be the right guy," Angelo said. "If we find a guy or guys, we're going to be aggressive."

Angelo isn't ruling out Miller being the starter again next year, either. But the quarterback instability contributed to Chicago's 4-12 finish last year, and with a brand-new $632 million stadium opening, the Bears can't afford another season like that.

"We all know our future is now, we understand that," Angelo said. "But there's a commonsense factor in this, too. So we're looking big picture."

That's where the quarterbacks coach comes in. Though most teams in the league have one, the Bears have done without the past two seasons. Offensive coordinator John Shoop was a quarterbacks coach, and he felt he could do both jobs.

But after watching the offense struggle last season, coach Dick Jauron decided Shoop needed some help. He and Angelo have been interviewing candidates, and Angelo said he expects a quarterbacks coach to be announced soon.

"I think history favors a quarterbacks coach, particularly when you're developing young players or ... bringing in veterans who have to learn a new system," Angelo said. "So I don't think there's any real downside."

Coach admits lying in denial about 49ers interview

SEATTLE - Washington Huskies coach Rick Neuheisel has acknowledged that he was interviewed for the San Francisco 49ers coaching job, saying his initial denial was based on a promise of confidentiality.

Neuheisel told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and The Seattle Times on Wednesday night that he decided to give the real story out of concern for his credibility.

"My knee-jerk reaction was to protect an agreement of confidentiality I had with the 49ers," Neuheisel told The Times, "but the life of the story that has followed has raised the question about who I am. It has questioned something more important, my credibility, and that isn't worth it.

"I want to correct the situation and apologize for not being more candid. I will work hard at repairing those relationships I have damaged."

UW athletic director Barbara Hedges said Thursday night the university would not censure Neuheisel.

"We've accepted his apology," she said at halftime of the Stanford-Washington women's game. "He's very embarrassed by it."

Hedges said Neuheisel never told her he planned to be interviewed by the 49ers and the NFL club never contacted her and asked permission to talk to Neuheisel.

Neuheisel, 33-16 in four years at Washington and 66-30 in seven years as a college head coach, would not say whether he was interested in or had been offered the 49ers job, which went to Oregon State coach Dennis Erickson on Tuesday.

P-I columnist John Levesque overheard Neuheisel on Sunday at the San Francisco airport while the coach was talking by telephone with his parents about the 49ers job.

To Levesque and in interviews Monday with The Times and KJR Radio, as well as in a news release, Neuheisel said he flew to California only to play golf and discuss a business deal in the Napa Valley.

"I thought first about what the 49ers had asked of me," Neuheisel said. "I was trying to protect them, when I should have told the truth."

The truth was that he met with 49ers owner John York, consultant Bill Walsh and general manager Terry Donahue on Sunday at a hotel near the club's headquarters.

"I cut short my vacation to Sun Valley (Idaho) at their request," Neuheisel said.

Neuheisel previously was mentioned as a potential candidate for coaching jobs with Notre Dame, UCLA and the Cleveland Browns.

"I don't want people to think that Washington is a steppingstone for me," he said. "I am very fortunate to be the coach here and am very excited about next season.

"I'm sorry all this happened."

Titans defensive end has surgery on left foot

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee Titans defensive end Jevon Kearse underwent successful surgery on his left foot Thursday in Charlotte, N.C.

Kearse broke the fifth metatarsal in his left foot early in Tennessee's season opener. He returned for the final three games of the season, but was hampered by pain in the foot.

Dr. Robert Anderson and Dr. Jeff Herring performed a bone graft procedure on the metatarsal. The surgery involved removing a metal screw from the fracture, transferring bone from Kearse's hip into the fracture and inserting a new screw into the break. The graft will help heal the fracture more fully than the original surgery, the Titans said.

Kearse is expected to return to the practice field at Tennessee's training camp in July.

"We are pleased that the surgery went as expected," Titans coach Jeff Fisher said. "This procedure was the best course of action for Jevon's long-term well-being. It should improve the healing process in the fracture and will have him back full speed for training camp and put this injury behind him."

Kearse is expected to be released from Carolina Medical Center on Friday morning and will begin rehabilitation in Nashville in March after his cast is removed.

Cardinals sign three

TEMPE, Ariz. - The Arizona Cardinals signed running back Damien Anderson, kicker Tim Duncan and defensive back Quentin Harris to one-year contracts Thursday.

Anderson, who played at Northwestern, appeared in 10 games last season after spending the first four weeks on the practice squad. He gained 65 yards on 24 carries and caught three passes for 36 yards. He also returned 12 kickoffs for 227 yards.

Duncan, a rookie free agent from Oklahoma, attended 2002 training camp as competition for Bill Gramatica.

Waived Aug. 31, Duncan was signed to the practice squad Nov. 26. He was elevated to the roster for the final game, but was inactive.

Harris, a four-year starter at Syracuse, spent most to the season on the practice squad. He played on special teams in the last six games.

Vikings sign KR/RB John Avery

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. - The Minnesota Vikings signed former XFL running back/kick returner John Avery on Thursday.

Avery, a first-round draft pick of Miami in 1998, played with the Dolphins and Denver Broncos from 1998-99. He spent 2001 with the XFL's Chicago Enforcers and 2002 with Edmonton of the Canadian Football League.

With Edmonton, Avery ran for 1,448 yards and nine touchdowns on 229 carries, caught 45 passes for 387 yards and two TDs and averaged 25.4 yards per kickoff return.

Five different players returned at least 10 kickoffs for the Vikings last year.

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