Tice on Webb Following Giant Game and Other News...............

**soulman** · 08-26-2011, 08:28 PM

Webb's athleticism starting to show more

Now it's matter of intensity and consistency because Bears expect a lot from him

Offensive tackle J'Marcus Webb. (Nuccio DiNuzzo / Tribune photo)

By Brad Biggs, Chicago Tribune reporter August 27, 2011

The thing that jumped out on film when the Bears finished dissecting their offensive line in the last exhibition outing was the athletic play of J'Marcus Webb. (I'd rather it was his slam the door blocking that jumped out)

That's precisely why line coach Mike Tice made the move at the start of training camp to flip Webb from right tackle to left tackle, where he believes the young player can flourish. Webb wasn't a polished college product when he arrived so it's going to require more work, but it looks like his problematical exhibition opener against the Bills was a hiccup.
Really, when Webb said he didn't match Shawne Merriman's intensity, that was the best answer he could have given. If he simply wasn't up to the task, that would be a far greater problem. (We'll see how well he's up to the task 16 games from Sept. 12th)

Video: Garza on Bears' O-line

"I knew all along, and I've been professing he's a tremendous athlete," Tice said. "He showed (that against the Giants) for the first time since maybe the New England game last year and maybe the Jets," Tice said. "He showed great athleticism, and bending and recovering and playing fast.

"That's what we expect from him. And that's what we have to expect from him every week. But he has to expect that from himself first. And if he does, then we'll be OK." (We're not holding our breathe Mike. Neither is Jay Cutler)

Special stuff: The Bears' short-sighted release of special teams stalwart Tim Shaw at final cuts a year ago looks worse now.

Shaw was let go when the team trimmed to 53 and the Bears kept Hunter Hillenmeyer knowing the veteran with a history of concussions was coming off another head injury in preseason. Hillenmeyer lasted one game and the club was forced to bring in Rod Wilson, a player who knew the system but didn't match Shaw's capabilities on special teams a year after he set a franchise record with 30 tackles.

Now, the Bears aren't certain what kind of help they have for Dave Toub at linebacker and in the secondary and it won't be surprising if the club makes a waiver move at final cuts to bring in some help. Shaw, who the Titans scooped up on waivers last September, led them with 20 special teams tackles. (Losing Shaw hurt especially since we now have no vet backup at MLB and SLB. I couldn't believe we let him go)

Quick learner: Kyle Adams, an undrafted free agent from Purdue, is trying to catch on at fullback after being switched from tight end less than two weeks ago. He's getting a long look on special teams too, where he was with the first team for four phases Monday against the Giants. Adams jokes he has experience, he played running back when he was 7.

"Coaches tell you to switch positions, you have to show them everything you have," Adams said. "It's a lot of learning."

(I didn't see anything from him on Monday that impressed me all that much. I thought Ta'ufo'uo looked the best of the FB who played.)

**soulman** · 08-26-2011, 08:35 PM

Tice can talk all he wants about Webb's athleticism but it's not a substitute for good technique and pass blocking skills neither of which he has to the level that Carimi does. I sure hope Webb gets better at that much sooner than later. He did a fair job on Monday but his athleticism won't win him every battle. He needs to learn how to block too.

I really miss not having Tim Shaw around. Not only was he a monster ST guy but he was a fair backup for Urlacher when we had him. I don't see this DeCicci kid as being anywhere near good enough to play backup MLB. We badly need to bring in some vet help. I'd even offer the Titans a pick for Shaw.

**Blue Horse-shoe** · 08-26-2011, 08:45 PM

The disconcerting part of this article is that this kind of effort " shows up" from time to time but not in every game. Why not ? If he's capable of playing this way , why not every game ?

Wish I really had to work only 1 day a week.

**blinddeafmute** · 08-26-2011, 08:49 PM

Originally Posted by soulman

Tice can talk all he wants about Webb's athleticism but it's not a substitute for good technique and pass blocking skills neither of which he has to the level that Carimi does. I sure hope Webb gets better at that much sooner than later. He did a fair job on Monday but his athleticism won't win him every battle. He needs to learn how to block too.

I really miss not having Tim Shaw around. Not only was he a monster ST guy but he was a fair backup for Urlacher when we had him. I don't see this DeCicci kid as being anywhere near good enough to play backup MLB. We badly need to bring in some vet help. I'd even offer the Titans a pick for Shaw.

I think Webb's bad play in week one was nothing more than him expecting a pass from the DE. Week two showed more agression from him. Hopefully I am right about this, but I wouldn't write off Webb at LT just yet.

**soulman** · 08-26-2011, 09:41 PM

Originally Posted by blinddeafmute

I think Webb's bad play in week one was nothing more than him expecting a pass from the DE. Week two showed more agression from him. Hopefully I am right about this, but I wouldn't write off Webb at LT just yet.

I'm not writing him off bro but I saw a lot of sloppy off balance blocking attempts on his part. It's true that he was better but how do we know that it wasn't Pierre-Paul giving him the pass this week that he didn't get from Merriman and the Bills? I think the kid may be able to be a decent NFL LT but he's got the world on his shoulders right now and I don't know if he's mentally prepared for it. I worry about that more than I do his legendary "athleticism".

I like "atheletes" on track teams and football players on my football team.

**lklrlolnlilklsox** · 08-26-2011, 10:02 PM

Originally Posted by soulman

Quick learner: Kyle Adams, an undrafted free agent from Purdue, is trying to catch on at fullback after being switched from tight end less than two weeks ago. He's getting a long look on special teams too, where he was with the first team for four phases Monday against the Giants. Adams jokes he has experience, he played running back when he was 7.

"Coaches tell you to switch positions, you have to show them everything you have," Adams said. "It's a lot of learning."

(I didn't see anything from him on Monday that impressed me all that much. I thought Ta'ufo'uo looked the best of the FB who played.)

Agreed, I've not been impressed with him at all. Smith on the other hand blew me away once again with his inline blocking. It also needs to be mentioned that all four of those phases he started on fucking sucked last Monday.

**soulman** · 08-26-2011, 10:21 PM

Originally Posted by lklrlolnlilklsox

Agreed, I've not been impressed with him at all. Smith on the other hand blew me away once again with his inline blocking. It also needs to be mentioned that all four of those phases he started on fucking sucked last Monday.

Yeah I'm just hoping they don't fvck up these cuts and let a guy like Smith go because we already spent money on Spaeth to do that job. In order to avoid that I'd think about keeping 4 TE's again and only 4 backs of which Kyle Adams should not be one. Keep a true FB and let Adams make his conversion on the PS if he must.

**lklrlolnlilklsox** · 08-26-2011, 10:31 PM

Originally Posted by soulman

Yeah I'm just hoping they don't fvck up these cuts and let a guy like Smith go because we already spent money on Spaeth to do that job. In order to avoid that I'd think about keeping 4 TE's again and only 4 backs of which Kyle Adams should not be one. Keep a true FB and let Adams make his conversion on the PS if he must.

I'm beginning to wonder if the reason why they aren't talking up Smith is because they are trying to sneak him onto the PS, because otherwise I can't figure out why guys like Tice aren't grinning ear-to-ear when asked about his blocking ability. He's been that good, IMHO.

**motownbear** · 08-27-2011, 08:40 AM

Tice is sooooo right all the time Webb should get the new Joe Thomas contract that's how good he is. He was so good he earned the honor of worse ot in the league last year. He is so good we tried signing bushrod to replace him lmfao

This is spin time to save face for messing up the oline further

**soulman** · 08-27-2011, 09:32 AM

Originally Posted by motownbear

Tice is sooooo right all the time Webb should get the new Joe Thomas contract that's how good he is. He was so good he earned the honor of worse ot in the league last year. He is so good we tried signing bushrod to replace him lmfao

This is spin time to save face for messing up the oline further

Exactly my take on it too mo. If they thought all Webb needed was a little time to acclimate to the position then why go after a very young big dollar guy like Bushrod instead of a 30+ year old guy to just hold down the fort for another year. Matt Light would have been a good choice here.

Regardless of what Mike Tice says what I saw on Monday was a guy who is still struggling mightily with his stance and pass blocking technique. Tice raves about his "recovery speed" as if it was a gift from God himself but I have to ask "the emperor's new clothes" question, exactly what is Webb recovering from? Seems to me that if he didn't make a mistake to begin with there would be nothing to recover from. Am I missing something here? Is my logic flawed? To me recovery means something didn't go right to begin with!

I think right now if we had been able to land Bushrod that Webb would have made a great Swing Tackle because that's all the better he is right now and we still don't know if he'll ever get that much better than that. We know that Tice is gonna build him up in the press in order to boost his confidence but the eye don't lie. We went after Bushrod first for a reason and I'm thinkin' were about to spend the next four months seeing why.

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