Bears’ Roy Williams finally up to speed
- Article
- Comments (0)
- Photos (1)
|
|
Roy Williams, right, here celebrating a Marion Barber touchdown on Oct. 16, says he’s done asking Jay Cutler what route he should be running on any given play. “I have to be a pro and do what I need to do to get the ball,” Williams said. Mark Black | Staff Photographer |
For a guy who supposedly knew coordinator Mike Martz’s offense from their days together in Detroit, it’s taken quite a while for wide receiver Roy Williams to get up to speed as a Bear.
Williams, who is fifth on the team with 13 receptions, began the season with the first team, but Johnny Knox has started ahead of him in five of the last six games.
But Williams has 7 catches for 109 yards in the past two games, while Knox has 5 catches for 94 yards.
“I’m getting there,” Williams said. “It’s a process for me. I know Jay’s probably happy I’m not (still) asking, ‘What do I got on this play?’ I’ve eliminated that. Everything is just starting to go back to how I felt in Detroit. It’s good now.”
Williams’ 25-yard TD catch vs. the Bucs was his first as a Bear.
“It just takes time,” he said. “Nobody had an advantage or disadvantage, but we needed the off-season, especially playing with a new quarterback.”
After catching 4 passes in the season opener, Williams was inactive the following week with a groin injury and then caught just 2 passes in the following three games. He blames himself for failing to develop a chemistry with Cutler.
“If I was a quarterback and a receiver keeps asking me, ‘What I got?’ I’m not going to throw you the ball, because you don’t know what you’re doing,” Williams said, describing his early struggles fitting into the offense. “If I was a quarterback, I’d be like, ‘I’m not throwing him the ball.’ To me, I was like, ‘OK. I can’t ask him no more what I got.’ I have to be a pro and do what I need to do to get the ball.”
Chance for redemption:
In the Bears’ previous Monday night experience, the 24-13 loss to the Lions at Ford Field, they committed 8 false-start penalties, including 6 by the young offensive line, in the deafening environment.
“I don’t know if we got caught up in the moment, or the moment caught us, (but) it wasn’t very good,” offensive line coach Mike Tice said. “We just hope that
we can learn from that and not have a repeat performance (Monday in Philly). I’m sure that we have learned from that experience. That was tough duty, first Monday night game for them, rockin’ and rollin’, (the Lions) undefeated. I think we can take a lot from that game and learn and get better.”
Wide ride:
The Eagles’ “wide nine” defensive alignment has gotten a lot of attention recently, but it’s nothing new to the Bears.
“That’s what Detroit does, so we have some practice with that,” center Roberto Garza said. “There will be some carryover. We have to make some adjustments on the edges, and our tackles know what to do and how to do it.”
In a wide nine, the defensive ends line up wide, off the outside shoulder of the tight end, with the idea of getting a better pass rush. That alignment leaves gaps in the middle unless linebackers are quick to fill.
Bears offensive line coach Mike Tice got plenty of experience facing that look from the Tennessee Titans twice a year when he was the Jacksonville Jaguars assistant head coach from 2006-09.
“Coach Tice, with his history against Tennessee in the past, knows exactly what to do,” Garza said. “So he’s been a big (learning) tool for us in how to get ready for this game.”
Stunted progress:
Coaches had hoped to get rookie offensive tackle Gabe Carimi some snaps in Monday night’s game, but his rehabilitation from a partially dislocated knee cap took a step back this week.
After full participation in Thursday’s full-pads practice, Carimi was held out Friday and Saturday, and he will not play vs. the Eagles.
• Follow Bob’s Bears reports via Twitter @Bob LeGere and check out our Bear Essentials blog at dailyherald.com.
