After some early doubts, Bears' Olsen thriving under Martz

"Greg is really coming into his own in this offense. - He's making some great plays for us."

Bears quarterback Jay Cutler on tight end Greg Olsen

Earlier reports of Greg Olsen's demised were obviously exaggerated.

Speculation began shortly after Mike Martz was hired as the Bears' new offensive coordinator that Olsen was on his way out; if not traded, then at least marginalized in the new scheme which, in the past, had not utilized the tight end as much more than a blocker.

But Olsen returns home to the New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on Sunday nigth with 10 catches and 140 yards, both of which rank third on the team. Two of his receptions have been for touchdowns and two more were instrumental in last week's victory over the Green Bay Packers.

"I'm looking forward to it," said Olsen, who played at Wayne Hills High School in New Jersey, where his father was the football coach. "It's exciting. I haven't been back to play a game since high school. Growing up real close to there, I'm going to have a lot of family and friends. This is a game that, when the schedule came out, we were looking forward to for sure."

Not only has Olsen survived in Martz's offense, he's thriving in it, averaging 14.0 yards per catch, up significantly from his 10.3-yard average his first three years in the league. His receptions, yardage and touchdowns have gone up every year since he was drafted in the first round out of Miami in 2007.

"Greg is really coming into his own in this offense," quarterback Jay Cutler said. "I think he's really bought into it at this point. Probably in OTAs (organized team activities in the spring), and when Mike first got here, that wasn't exactly the case. But he's making some great plays for us.

"Mike is trying to put him in situations where he's going to have a good chance to get the ball and good chance to make plays for us, so I'm excited for him."

Since Cutler came to the Bears in a trade on April 2, 2009, he and Olsen have been good friends off the field.

"It can't do anything but help," Olsen said. "You get to talk about things and you're kind of used to each other and you can adjust on the fly, ad lib things that aren't exactly how they're scripted. That's definitely an advantage."

But back in OTAs Olsen wasn't sure where he'd fit in the new offense, even though he was coming off his best year in the league, a season in which he led the team with 60 catches and 8 touchdowns and was third with 612 receiving yards.

"There wasn't much history to rely on," Olsen said, noting the limited impact that tight ends had traditionally made in Martz offenses. "But I was confident coming in that if I just continued to go out there and do what I do, that there would be a place for me, and as we've seen, there has been a role and a pretty prominent one for the position.

"You just have to make the plays when they come your way. Coach Martz has said all along that guys who make plays and do what they're asked to do are going to play."

Last week's 5-catch, 64-yard performance was a confidence booster for Olsen, but Bears coach Lovie Smith said that he didn't really need it.

"Greg is a confident guy," Smith said. "Most guys coming out of the University of Miami, you don't have to give them that George Halas speech every day. They feel pretty good about what they're doing.

"But Greg does for a reason,"Smith added. "He's a great athlete, a coach's kid, and he's played at a high level. He knows that he's one of the best tight ends in the league, but still you have to make plays out on the football field."

On the game-wining field-goal drive last week, Olsen's 21-yard catch on second-and-20 got the Bears down to the Packers' 35-yard line at the two-minute warning. He also had a 16-yard reception on the previous possession that set up Robbie Gould's game-tying field goal.

"We're going to him more and more," Smith said. "He's a big part of what we're going to do the rest of the year. He's one of our guys. He's a go-to guy. That play he made late in the fourth quarter was big. It enabled us to win the football game."

Follow Bob LeGere's reports via Twitter@BobLeGere. Check out his blog, Bear Essentials, at DailyHerald.com