Right tackle Long a real team guy, Gase says
When Bears coach John Fox approached Kyle Long a week before the start of the regular season with a proposal to move to right tackle, a position he had never played before, the two-time Pro Bowl guard took it in stride.
"John Fox told me I was a tackle this year," Long said. "So that's what I'm doing to the best of my ability, trying to get better every week and limit the missteps and miscues."
But Long admits he wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea.
"It's not like I came out and was begging to play the position," he said.
There have been plenty of ups and downs, but Long knows the Bears are a better team with him at right tackle. Teammates and coaches know Long took one for the team, even though it meant leaving his comfort zone.
"Making that transition shows you what kind of a team guy he is," offensive coordinator Adam Gase said. "I've been in some situations where guys just flat-out say, 'I'm not going to do that,' because it's not in their best interests. He did it for us, he did it to help us in the situation we were in."
Even though he has started 44 of 45 games since the Bears drafted him 20th overall, Long remains a work in progress after starting just five games at Oregon. But as the son of Hall of Famer Howie Long, he does have elite bloodlines.
"Being able to do what he's done so far and how quickly he's developed just shows you ... his genetics are ... it is what it is," Gase said. "He's got freakish ability. He's picked up the game. He loves the game, so he works hard at it. You can tell he wants to be a high-level tackle."
Only one option:
Pernell McPhee has been driven to put some "dawg" in the Bears defense since he came over from the Baltimore Ravens in the off-season and assumed a leadership role. But it has been more difficult lately, as he has struggled with a nagging knee injury that won't improve until after the season is over.
"Some of the guys get it, some of the guys understand," McPhee said. "This is a violent game, and if you ain't gonna be violent, there ain't no need for you to be here. That's what it's time to preach, and especially going into these next three games, (and Sunday) going against arguably the best running back in the game right now."
The Vikings' Adrian Peterson leads the NFL with 1,251 rushing yards, so the Bears could use McPhee, who is questionable. Even though the Bears are a distant speck in the playoff picture, McPhee says there is plenty of incentive to play well.
"Mentally it challenges me as a leader, and it's about how I'm going to lead," he said. "Am I gonna fold or am I gonna keep going? I don't fold, so I only got one choice, to keep going."
Record pace:
Wide receiver Alshon Jeffery has missed five games with injuries but still has 53 receptions for 797 yards (15.0 yards per catch) and is averaging what would be a franchise-record 99.6 receiving yards per game.
Only Atlanta's Julio Jones and Pittsburgh's Antonio Brown have averaged more yards per game than Jeffery, who had 6 receptions for 107 yards and a TD Sunday. Jeffery has more than 100 receiving yards in four of the eight games he has played.
Sack is back:
Lamarr Houston's sack last week vs. Washington was his team-best sixth of the season and tied his career high, in 2013 as an Oakland Raider. Five of Houston's sacks have come in the last six games. He had just 1 sack last season, his first with the Bears, when he suffered a season-ending torn ACL in Game Eight celebrating that sack.