From the Chicago Tribune

By Vaughn McClure | Tribune staff reporter 10:07 PM CDT, October 18, 2007  

Hunter Hillenmeyer and Brian Urlacher were quick to defend defensive coordinator Bob Babich on Thursday.

The guy Urlacher’s calls “Bullet” has been under the gun, with the defense not performing up to expectations.

“Bullet has been here just as long as Ron [Rivera] was,” Urlacher said of the Bears’ former defensive coach. “We’re used to having him around. It’s the same defense, the exact same defense, just different calls at certain times.“It doesn’t have anything to do with Bob. It’s us. We’re not making plays. We’re not doing our jobs. … He’s calling good games.”

Hillenmeyer spoke along the same lines.

“I just think things have gone so wrong that people are looking for a scapegoat,” he said. “If they’re pointing fingers at him, they’re pointing at the wrong guy. You watch the film with us. It’s not the plays called. It’s the missed tackles and the blown gap-assignments.

“If you do what you’re supposed to do, then the defense is going to succeed. It doesn’t come down to us having the right blitz called or whatever. We don’t need to trick people. We just need to play better.”Disappearing actMark Anderson knows he played the worst game of his young career Sunday against

Minnesota. But he didn’t need to call friend Osi Umenyiora of the Giants for advice on how to attack

Philadelphia despite the fact Umenyiora recorded six sacks against the Eagles a few weeks back.

“They don’t have the same tackles,”

Anderson said, referring to how the Eagles were banged up then. “I just have to go back out there and play better.”Injury updateCornerback Nathan Vasher was the only player held out of practice Thursday as he continues to nurse a sore groin. Vasher’s absence has caused some scrambling in the secondary, but Danieal Manning won’t step in for Vasher on Sunday. Manning confirmed he would play free safety. And Adam Archuleta will start at strong safety. Neither Ricky Manning Jr. nor Trumaine McBride would acknowledge he would start at cornerback opposite Charles Tillman.Home cookin’

Eagles defensive tackle Mike Patterson credits former teammate Darwin Walker for helping him adapt to the NFL. With Walker coming back to Philadelphia this weekend, Patterson talked about the biggest reason he has missed

Walker.

“We used to have defensive line meetings at his house on Friday nights, and he’d always have some Popeye’s Chicken,” Patterson said. “It was great to have team chemistry. But I looked forward to the food.”