Bears' Ola, de la Puente not typical backup linemen

For an 0-1 team missing two starters on the offensive line and heading into hostile territory to face an elite opponent, the Bears seem surprisingly calm — at least as far as the O-line goes.

Sunday night against the 49ers at Levi's Stadium, Brian de la Puente will replace Roberto Garza at center and Michael Ola will fill in for Matt Slauson at left guard. That's how the Bears finished last week's season opener after the starters suffered ankle injuries late in the second quarter.

One of the reasons the offense isn't panicking is because the transition last week went fairly seamlessly. The offense actually produced more yardage after halftime (233-194) and quarterback Jay Cutler was not sacked after the break.

The offense in general and Cutler in particular seem to be in good hands operating behind de la Puente and Ola.

De la Puente started 44 games over the previous three seasons with the Saints, the first two when Bears offensive coordinator Aaron Kromer was the Saints' offensive line coach. So no one was surprised that the five-year veteran played well, even though he missed a good chunk of the preseason with a sprained knee.

“Brian's played a lot of football,” Cutler said. “He knows our system, he's been around, he's a veteran guy. Mike's been in there with us really all preseason. He played well last week, so we still have those guys pretty intact. They're a close-knit group. They're playing well.”

The versatile Ola started the first three preseason games this year at right tackle in place of injured Jordan Mills, so he has a comfort level with the other starters. He's an NFL rookie, but Ola started 16 games last season with the CFL's Montreal Alouettes. The year before, when Bears coach Marc Trestman was his head coach, Ola started five games for the Als after being promoted from their practice squad.

Before de la Puente acquired the experience needed to step into a starting lineup, he paid his dues. The 29-year-old spent time on the practice squads of five different teams before he stuck with the Saints.

“He showed up as a practice squad player in New Orleans, and he was a calm, kind of an ice-man player,” Kromer said. “When he goes in the game, nothing fazes him. He doesn't get affected by things mentally. When you have that attribute, it allows you to just focus on your job.

“He's been a starter, (but) he came here in a backup role because of Roberto Garza and all the success he's had. But we knew, and everyone knows, that he's been a capable starter in the past and he can do it again. We feel confident.”

Confident enough to know that Ola can depend on experienced help on either side, de la Puente on the right and eight-year veteran Jermon Bushrod on the left. The ability to play guard or tackle made Ola one of the most pleasant surprises of training camp. So he got time at right guard when Kyle Long was ill during camp, and then at tackle.

“With that confidence that we've built up and the team has built up in him, it was no surprise that he had success,” Kromer said. “We expect him to get the job done.”

The 6-foot-4, 312-pound Ola was undrafted out of Hampton, but after his two years in the CFL, he signed with the Miami Dolphins in January but was waived in late May. The Bears signed him the next day.

“We feel very fortunate we were able to get him,” Trestman said. “He's a very quiet guy, very bright, has picked up the offense very quickly, the assignments, the communication. and he does have the athletic ability to be very versatile.

“That's what we saw up there (in Canada), and that's what we're seeing here.”

Ola has come a long way from practice squad player in the CFL to starter in the NFL because he prepared to be where he is now.

“You always hear the term, 'practice like you're a starter and like you're going to play,' “ Ola said. “That's what I did, and then when my number was called, thank the Lord, I was able to get out there and do something.

I knew that if anybody — a tackle or a guard — went down then I was going to have to be in there. I wasn't just on the sidelines twiddling my thumbs. I was engaged in the game and so, when it happened, it was just time to go.”

It'll be go time again tonight against a 49ers defense that has been one of the best in the NFL since ex-Bears quarterback Jim Harbaugh became head coach in 2011.