Bears’ O-line coach says he’s got his starting five
BOURBONNAIS — Once again, in Sunday’s night practice, the offense lined up with J’Marcus Webb at left tackle, Chris Williams at left guard, Roberto Garza at center, Lance Louis at right guard and rookie Gabe Carimi at right tackle.
Despite speculation to the contrary, that’s exactly how they’ll line up Saturday night in the preseason opener against the Bills at Soldier Field. Offensive line coach Mike Tice is adamant about that.
“Let’s get something straight,” Tice said. “I have the five starting linemen right now. Unless the five starting linemen falter, there are no changes. OK? there’s not a competition, so don’t write that, because whoever’s writing that is wrong. We have five guys in there, and they’re the starters. If they falter in games, that’s going to be my evaluation; not out here. Because out here they’re fine.”
Garza has worked hard to fill in at center, where he’s played one game in his 11-year NFL career, but he’s more comfortable at right guard. If Tice determines that the line is better with Garza back at right guard and recently acquired unrestricted free agent Chris Spencer at center, a move will be made at that time.
“Roberto Garza’s one of our best five linemen,” Tice said. “He’s going to be on the field at the end of the day. OK? We’ve identified that. But there is no competition. So I don’t know if I would write that.”
Good competition:
The addition of Roy Williams and Sam Hurd could create more competition at wide receiver for receptions and playing time than at any time in the Lovie Smith era.
And wide receivers coach Darryl Drake, who was Williams’ position coach at the University of Texas, says that’s a good thing.
“You’ve got a guy like Sam that has high energy,” Drake said. “You’ve got a guy like Roy that’s a big guy, that has a tremendous gift and a tremendous amount of talent.
“The biggest thing is you want competition in your room. When you’ve got competition, it allows guys to grow. It allows guys to raise their level of play, and that’s what’s happening right now. We want them to continue to do that and I look forward to that happening. So far I like the group.”
Incumbents Johnny Knox (51), Earl Bennett (46) and Devin Hester (40) all had a similar number of receptions last season, but Knox was the clear-cut winner with 960 yards. Bennett was second on the team with 561 yards and Hester was fourth with 475. As members of the Cowboys, Williams had 37 catches for 530 yards and Hurd caught 14 passes for 120 yards.
Surprise, surprise:
One of the surprises of training camp has been undrafted rookie wide receiver Dane Sanzenbacher of Ohio State, who has not looked out of place while getting snaps with the first team.
“He make plays,” wide receivers coach Darryl Drake said. “He gets open, and he makes catches. He’s been put in a situation to go in there, and that’s how you make a football team. So he’ll continue to get more opportunities.”
Still, with five veterans clearly ahead of him on the depth chart, the 5-foot-11, 180-pound Sanzenabcher has an uphill climb.
“You like guys that overcome those kinds of odds,” Drake said. “But, if he continues to produce and do the things that he’s capable of doing or that he’s shown so far, he’ll be fine.”
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