Rozner: Goal hasn't changed for Bears' Long
Kyle Long is going to get paid.
When he gets his inevitable contract extension, he is going to get mansion money and then some.
But when his agent sits down with Bears general manager Ryan Pace, he ought to lead with what the Bears did to him in 2015.
Only days before the season began, they made a choice they should have made the day Pace got the job. Instead, the Bears waited until a few days before the 2015 season to move the Pro Bowl guard to right tackle.
It was the right move, just at the wrong time.
Still, Long never complained. Not once did he question the coaching staff. Not once did he wonder aloud what they might have been thinking.
Not even when they left him on an island. Not even when he had a couple tough games. Not even now when a lesser man might have requested a move back to a position where he was as good as any in the league.
Instead, Long set a new goal.
"I want to be the best tackle in football," Long says after surviving another painful season. "This is my job now. Whatever my job, I want to be the best."
So now it remains to be seen whether the Bears will move him to the left side, which is - of course - the right move. But if they do it, they should make the move immediately to give Long the benefit of an off-season to prepare.
"No clue," Long said, when asked if he'll shift to Jay Cutler's blind side. "I know I'll be wearing cleats and a helmet and I'll be asked to stop someone from hitting our quarterback.
"Sooner is always better than later in all facets in life. It would be nice to know, but Charles Leno has done an exceptional job over there (at left tackle). It would be hard to have that conversation without sounding like a (bad guy).
"Charles knows how much I think of him and how well I think he's done this year. We all respect him for the job he's done being thrown into that position as a second-year player at the hardest position on the field other than quarterback.
"If I can be his other book end, great. I just want to help the team win."
It's not surprising to find Long so aware of what he's saying, careful not to come off sounding like he wants someone else's job when all he was doing was answering a question.
But he knows it's a possibility and he knows he has a lot of work to do, regardless of which tackle spot he owns.
"I feel like I'm making progress," Long said. "There were some ups and downs.
"I feel like I had a lot of great people around me, a lot of veterans to help me. I just have to continue to identify the things I don't do well, identify the things I do well, and then work on what needs work."
A full off-season to train and prepare - as opposed to five days - would be a benefit.
"Absolutely," Long said. "I'm lucky to get out of here relatively healthy. Without the Pro Bowl, I'll be able to have some off time here to get my body back healthy and then hit it pretty hard."
Long is the least of the Bears' worries, though the list of questions is lengthy at best and disconcerting at worst. But the feeling in the locker room is the Bears made a sea change when it looked as if spinning the cruise liner would be impossible.
"There's no doubt it's different than when we walked out of here last year," Long said. "But I'm still fighting to find the light at the end of the tunnel.
"It's been tough at times, but we know what direction we're going. We can see it. We were very close to being 9-7 or 10-6."
Nevertheless, Long had never experienced losing until he arrived in Chicago, and in three seasons here he has not been on a winning team.
"I'm pretty tired of losing. I can tell you that much," Long said. "I don't like it. I don't like it at all."
So while the needle points up, the Bears have miles to travel before they look like a postseason team.
In the meantime, Kyle Long will go back to work, searching for the tools and secrets to make him the best he can be, the best in the game.
At least in this regard, the Bears have no concerns at all.
brozner@dailyherald.com
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