Rozner: Bears' Long keeps short-term view of success

In a season that has seen so many Bears move the wrong direction, there is at least some positive news.

Among so much bad has been the good play of Kyle Long, who is emerging not just as a future tackle and solid offensive lineman, but also a locker-room presence.

Long has tried to play the role of second-year player among a group of veterans, but on a team that so lacks voice and leadership, in that massive void the little brother is sounding more like the older brother all the time.

Sometimes he is impressively subtle, as when he was asked postgame Sunday if he enjoyed seeing quarterback Jay Cutler show some emotion on the field.

"Jay being excited and fired up is always awesome to see," Long said. "It's contagious."

Another way to say it might have been, "Yeah, it's nice to know he has a pulse," but Long is too smart for that.

He also knows how to pat the back of someone who needs it.

"Matt Forte is the workhorse here, and it's nice to see him with a smile on his face after a game," Long said Sunday afternoon. "He gets so beat up every week. To see him after a win, smiling, is great. It's a nice reward."

The nuanced messages to the coordinator are equally skilled.

"Of course, as a line we love to run the ball. It puts things in our hands a little bit more when we run," Long said. "We have no problem throwing the ball. We have great weapons and confidence in Jay when we give him time, but the run is a nice change."

Said the man who was drafted in 2008 by the White Sox as a left-handed pitcher, "You can't just throw fastballs all the time. Even the hardest thrower's gotta mix in some change-ups."

When discussing the huge time of possession advantage for the Bears on Sunday against Minnesota, Long changed the subject and praised Mel Tucker and the defense.

"We haven't done a good enough job this year giving the defense time to breathe with some long drives," Long said. "We have great pass rushers who can go get the quarterback if we just give them a chance to rest a little bit. Today, we did that and you saw the result."

It can't be easy for a player so accustomed to winning agonize on a bad team the way Long has this season, but for the most part he has managed to say the right things.

He has also continued to play hard and develop as a professional.

"It has been quite an emotional roller coaster," Long said with a smile. "That's the humbling thing about the NFL. Everyone here has had a lot of success at previous levels of football.

"Once you get past that, you say, 'How can we beat these guys?' It comes down to assignment-alignment-adjustment football. Being able to do the right thing on any given play. Offenses and defenses can do so many things in this game today, but if you have the right adjustments, anything can happen."

In other words, "Yeah, any given Sunday, man. It's a real thing. In this league, it's a real thing and any team can win any game."

At 25, Long has already suffered from the mistakes of youth and come out the other side a real pro. He had a brief misstep regarding fans earlier this season but also quickly apologized, and otherwise has appeared wise beyond his years.

Long has obviously benefitted from having a Hall of Fame father and a brother who's been in the league seven years. Someone like that tends to reach the league with a little more poise and knowledge than the average NFL player.

"There's two hats that Chris and my dad can wear," Long explained. "There's the guy you can go to for football advice, and then there's the father and brother. We try to keep them separate, but they've been very supportive and it's good to have those kind of people to talk to."

So as the Bears trudge through the rest of a disappointing season, hoping at least to make their record respectable, Long will fight the good fight one play at a time.

"Go home, get a good night's sleep, get a good lift in tomorrow and go back to the drawing board," he said. "Can't get caught up in the record or the playoffs or anything like that.

"Get ready for the next practice and do that well, and get ready for the next day after that. You can get in trouble fast thinking about anything more than that."

Long will stay with a short-term view. Thus far, it has worked quite nicely.

brozner@dailyherald.com

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