Linebacker Lance Briggs isn’t interested in changing positions in Brian Urlacher’s absence. (US Presswire)

The draft Lance Briggs movement should stop now, says the Bears' weakside LB.

Whenever Brian Urlacher has had an injury, or when it was thought he might miss a game following the death of his mother last year, there have always been questions wondering why not move Briggs to the middle.

"This is my 10th year and I’ve never played Mike [middle backer] in my 10 years," Briggs said Thursday. "It would be easier for me to play Sam [strong], it would be easier for me to play nickelback than it would for me to play Mike."

Bears LBs are trained in each of the three spots.

"I could play it," Briggs said. "All of us could play it because the positions are interchangeable. But I don’t want to play it."

The thinking by the Bears is, and always has been, that Briggs is a seven-time Pro Bowl weakside LB and putting him in the middle when Urlacher is gone would then mean the defense is deprived of having Pro Bowl players at two positions rather than one.

Obviously, Briggs has never been a Pro Bowl middle linebacker.

There is another player who is getting tired of being asked if he could move positions, so at least Briggs has company: rookie defensive end Shea McClellin.

The former Boise State star played a hybrid type of position in college, and was more of an outside linebacker there. Some projected him as a pass rushing LB in the pros. So naturally he's fielding questions about why he couldn't move to Briggs' spot while Briggs moves to the middle.

"We’re not a 3-4," Briggs said about the Bears' defensive scheme. "But he’s athletic enough to drop back and do all those things. I think we’re using him in the right way. I think our game plan and the way we run our defense is effective enough. You don’t have to go out and do a bunch of extra things. 

"We’ll just play our style of defense and we’ll be fine."

McClellin always is up for helping in any way he can, but he's had to field questions about playing linebacker since he showed up at Halas Hall following the draft chiefly because he was a linebacker.

"There's a lot of instances where I've been dropping back into coverage," McClellin said of his role in this year's defense. 

On Sunday McClellin dropped off on occasion just to spy Seattle's running QB Russell Wilson.
McClellin sighed when asked if he had grown tired of being asked if he could play LB: "Yes," he said after the sigh.

Added Briggs about McClellin: "We use him in a number of ways. But I think the way we run our defense, if we run it correctly, we’ll be successful."

Meanwhile, players are satisfied with Nick Roach in the middle even if he seems too laid back to be a leader. In fact, players have all acknowledged his voice was sometimes not exactly urgent or loud in the huddle or prior to snaps.

"His voice has developed," Briggs said. "I don't know if that's the word. But he's matured and he sounds louder on the field."

Roach maintained his usual subdued approach when being targeted with questions about how he could handle calling signals and communications with the coaches from the middle after he hadn't done it in a regular season contest since 2009 when Urlacher's former backup Huntler Hillenmeyer was hurt. Roach pointed out he'll have Urlacher on the sidelines to consult with at times Sunday.

"You know know, it's not like I'm out there by myself," he added. "I have a whole cast of guys that have been there before and have played with other guys before in the middle, so we should be good."

Follow Bears reporter Gene Chamberlain on Twitter @CBSBears.