What will Bears look like?
Without the benefit of an off-season weightlifting program, or a single day of organized team activities (OTAs) or minicamp, followed by a frenetic free-agency feeding period, no one is really sure what the Bears have.
That's especially true on offense.
Not even the coaching staff can be certain, as they prepare for today's first practice of any kind in more than six months. Some familiar names have departed and some new players will step into key positions.
But, for now, uncertainty is the watchword.
“I'm anxious to see what we become,” coach Lovie Smith said Friday evening. “As I talk to you right now, you've seen some of the players about as much as I have lately. It's about getting out on the football field and going to work. We're going to learn new things about some of the new players, and even some of our other players. Normally we would have gone through an entire off-season. But we'll catch up.”
The Bears fell a game short of the Super Bowl last season, but the offense was shaky at best, so quarterback Jay Cutler was asked if he's got something to prove this year.
“Yeah, this whole team does, not just me,” Cutler said. “We fought tooth and nail last year, and I think everyone kind of has a sour taste in their mouth. Offensively we've got to get a lot better. The defense carried us all year. They were a Super Bowl defense. They had enough to make it happen. Offensively, we've got to catch up to them.”
Cutler and Co. will have to do so without the receiving skills of tight end Greg Olsen, who was traded to the Panthers. He will be replaced by unrestricted free agent Matt Spaeth, the ex-Steeler who was officially signed Friday after agreeing to terms earlier in the week. Those moves portend a tweaking of the offensive scheme, with the tight ends less involved as receivers and the wideouts needing to pick up the slack.
And once again the offensive line is in transition. Six-time Pro Bowl center and unrestricted free agent Olin Kreutz had yet to sign anywhere. Teammates were optimistic he would be in camp shortly to provide an anchor for a group desperately in need of one.
The Bears are hoping first-round pick Gabe Carimi upgrades the O-line, but it has yet to be determined where he will line up in practice today.
“Tackle,” was Smith's reply when he was asked, but the ambiguity was understandable.
“I'm not trying to run away from your question, but we've never been on the field with Gabe,” Smith said. “We think he can play both positions. But we have a spot in mind for him, and we'll just let him go out there and tell us. We let them all tell us exactly where they need to play.”
Sans Kreutz, starting right guard Roberto Garza will be snapping the ball to Cutler this afternoon. If that's a permanent solution, it creates a domino effect at the other positions in a group that needs to jell sooner rather than later.
“(That's) important,” Smith said. “We want to do it as soon as possible. It's always good to get a group of five together and let them start working, but sometimes it doesn't work like that.”
The signing of former Pro Bowl wide receiver Roy Williams is potentially one of the biggest improvements on an offense that was 30th in total yards and 28th in passing yards last season. But if Cutler doesn't have better protection than he did last year, when he was sacked more than anyone in the NFL, it won't matter who his receivers are. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Williams caught 146 passes for 2,148 yards and 12 touchdowns in two years with the Lions when Mike Martz was his offensive coordinator.
“He's a heck of a player,” Cutler said. “A guy who has been in this system, so we won't have to teach him too much, just get him refreshed. I know he loves coach Martz to death, and I know he and Mike really work well together. With his kind of range and the way he catches the ball, and how he can get off press and stuff, he is definitely a go-to guy.”