Hanie now understands Martz’s tough love

It’s all good now between Bears quarterback Caleb Hanie and offensive coordinator Mike Martz, but that definitely didn’t appear to be the case midway through training camp.

Hanie had turned in an uninspiring effort in the preseason opener, completing just 3 of 7 passes for 32 yards while taking 3 sacks.

At practice the following Monday, Hanie was eliminated from the practice rotation, even though there was nothing physically wrong with him. Rookie Nathan Enderle took all the snaps that Hanie typically would get.

The normally affable four-year veteran declined to speak to reporters while hustling off the field.

Coach Lovie Smith claimed the rotation change wasn’t punitive, but he said: “You look at how a guy played, and that determines what type of reps he gets the following week. Caleb didn’t play as well as I thought he did initially.”

Clearly, Hanie’s one-day “benching” was a Martz decision.

Fast-forward three months: Hanie’s getting ready to take over the offense from injured Jay Cutler, and Martz explains his training-camp tactics.

“You’ve got to stress him and press him a little bit,” the offensive coordinator said. “Get him out of his comfort zone and have him deal with some of the emotional ups and downs that come with being a starter in the league, and kind of callous him up a little bit, (make him) resilient.”

Hanie was miffed at the time, but he said that now he understands the process.

“The training-camp stuff … in any good marriage you’re going to have some bumps in the road, and that goes the same as with your offense,” the quarterback said.

“I struggled a little bit. I had good moments, but then I also had bad moments, and by the end of training camp I felt like I was on a steady rise.”

The next day of training camp, Hanie was back taking snaps with the second team and even took some reps with the first team in 11-on-11 situations.

“I’m motivated, but I don’t need that as motivation,” he said of the one-day demotion. “I’ll be motivated anytime, no matter what happens.

“I’m not too worried about it. I’m just going to keep going and keep trying to get better every day. That’s all I can do.”