Rozner: Next Man Up huge for Bears

Next Man Up ought to be the highest-paid player in football.

He is everywhere on every Sunday, constantly praised by NFL head coaches and spoken about in terms usually reserved for Pro Bowlers.

The best coach in football, Bill Belichick, talks about him every week and says he expects him to play good football regardless of whom he's replacing, even someone as good as Julian Edelman, who broke his foot Sunday.

"The game plan is the game plan," Belichick said. "We can't draw up 20 new plays because something happens. I don't think you can coach a game like that. Gotta do what we do.

"Guys practice and we have to back up every position. Every player has to be ready to go. We don't know what's going to happen in the game. That's the NFL."

On his Monday morning radio appearance in Boston, a depressed Tom Brady did not sound as convinced after losing his favorite receiver.

"That's the challenging part about football," Brady said. "You have all these things on the call sheet that you plan for, and when someone is really integral to basically everything you're doing and you lose that person, it may take a little bit to figure out how you can move things around.

"There's nothing that's really seamless when you lose a great player. When someone that's been the leading receiver on your team for multiple years and you lose him, it's not like you go, 'OK, well let's just put someone else in.'

"(Edelman is) too good of a player for that. You've just got to find a way to make some adjustments."

Next Man Up has not played well for the Bears the last decade and has been something of a punch line around Lake Forest. Let's face it, the first man wasn't all that good to begin with, and Next Man Up was likely to bring laughter, if not tears, because Next Man Up wasn't coached and ready to play.

But the Bears played their best game of the 2015 season Sunday because they have a professional staff that prepares backups as well as starters.

They have coordinators who can adjust when they lose players and they make certain Next Man Up knows what he's doing.

"Alshon (Jeffery) still wasn't 100 percent (against St. Louis), but he gave us all he could," said QB Jay Cutler. "Some other guys made some plays, so we just need to keep on that track."

The offensive line has been a unit in turmoil all season, but Matt Slauson has held it together by moving from guard to center and he's been impressive in relief.

"It's hard moving from guard to center," Cutler said. "I think snapping was probably the biggest transition for him, and then communicating to the right side as well, because he's communicated to the left a lot.

"But having to communicate to the right, we couldn't ask for a better guy. He knows the offense inside and out. He knows how to play technically at guard and center. He's able to communicate with the tackles out there."

Yet, even without Matt Forte and Pernell McPhee, their top weapons on either side of the ball, the Bears crushed the Rams, and this was after St. Louis walked down the field on their first drive as if the Bears' defense wasn't on the field.

"After that, it was pretty much shut it down," Cutler said. "(Defensive coordinator) Vic (Fangio) does a good job. We go against it in practice and they're very multiple.

"We've got some talented guys in the back playing well right now."

From the start of the season, this coaching staff has searched for new faces when the old ones couldn't get it done, or injuries forced new players into the lineup. Bryce Callahan replacing Sherrick McManis is just one of at least a dozen examples.

"Bryce Callahan is coming in there at nickel and he's done a great job for us," Cutler said. "We're still getting home with the pass-rush even without (McPhee). Hopefully, we'll get him back and it will be even better."

And when some of the offensive weapons are out or struggling, the Bears get Zach Miller involved and he's made huge plays the last two weeks.

"I've always enjoyed going to Zach," Cutler said. "He's one of those easy guys where you always know where he's going to be and he's a friendly target and he's a smart player.

"He used to be a quarterback, so he knows tempo things, knows when to gas it a little bit. I've never really second-guessed throwing him the ball."

And on the first touchdown pass - a short throw to Miller that went for 87 yards Sunday - Cutler got rid of the ball quickly, rather than waiting for Jeffery to get open. That is a huge mindset change for Cutler, but it's also about his comfort level with Miller.

"On his first day he got with us, you could tell that this guy knows how to play football. He knows how to run routes and battle through injuries," Cutler said. "He's still battling through some stuff. It couldn't happen to a better guy the last two weeks."

Next Man Up is no mirage, but he's new to the Bears.

And they're glad to have him.

brozner@dailyherald.com

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