Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher says he plays for the best team in the NFC, and the fact that the Packers beat the Bears in the NFC Championship Game and then won the Super Bowl isn’t going to change his mind.

“I think we’re the best team in our conference,” Urlacher said during an appearance at an Albuquerque elementary school. “I know we’re not the Super Bowl champs like the Green Bay Packers. . . . We want to be the best in our conference and to be there, we’ve got to go through Green Bay.”

According to the Albuquerque Journal, Urlacher (who will turn 33 next week) is in great shape and working out regularly, and he says the only thing the lockout has changed for him is that he’s staying away from the Bears’ facilities longer than he has in the past.

“It’s a little longer, that’s all,” Urlacher said. “Longer than I’d like it to be. I’m still working out hard — just not with my teammates. That’s the biggest difference. I’m doing the same program I would be if I were at the facility.”

So just as Packers linebacker A.J. Hawk is doing his workouts on his own while the lockout is on, Urlacher is, too. And we’ll all just have to hope the lockout ends so the Packers and Bears can determine on the field whether Urlacher is right about which team is the best in the NFC.

ProFootballTalk wrote:

Lovie Smith: I agree with Brian Urlacher, but Packers have the ring

We noted this week that Chicago linebacker Brian Urlacher said he believes the Bears, not the Packers, are the best team in the NFC. Now Bears coach Lovie Smith has said he agrees — sort of.

Smith says he shares Urlacher’s confidence in the Bears’ ability to beat anyone, but he has to acknowledge that what really matters isn’t being the beat team in Brian Urlacher’s mind or Lovie Smith’s mind. What matters is having a Super Bowl ring to put on your finger.

“Of course I agree with him. You’d be disappointed if any of our players didn’t feel like we were the best around. But reality says the Packers are there right now. They have the Super Bowl ring. They’re the champion right now. And it’s up to us to do something about it.” Smith said in an ESPN interview (video here).

Obviously, Smith is right: As Herm Edwards might say, NFL teams don’t play for the right to call themselves the best team, they play to win the Super Bowl. The Packers won the Super Bowl, and whether it’s Brian Urlacher or Rex Ryan or anyone else, just thinking you’re better than the Packers doesn’t mean much.

ProFootballTalk wrote: