Mike Tice has gone to a lot of measures to make points to offensive linemen over the years.
In 2005, he pulled a fan off the sideline at Vikings training camp and had him fill in at guard during a non-contact drill without helmets. He was sending a message to his players.
Tice delivered another statement Thursday night, when the Bears went to the unusual length of having a veteran starter play into the fourth quarter of the first exhibition game.
J'Marcus Webb, who has started 28 games over the last two seasons and essentially has the starting left tackle job again by default, was on the field for 41 of 49 offensive snaps in the 31-3 loss to the Broncos at Soldier Field. He even blocked for fourth-string quarterback Matt Blanchard, an undrafted rookie.
It was far better than his debut on the left side in the exhibition opener last summer, when the Bills' Shawne Merriman overwhelmed him. Webb was called for one false start Thursday but was not overmatched by any means, and the Broncos' six sacks were largely the result of quarterbacks holding the ball too long.
Webb wasn't the only one to get an extended look. Left guard Chris Spencer, an eight-year veteran, played the entire first half. It was a sign that he, too, had not met expectations.
"(Tice) was not happy with how we started," Spencer said. "We did nothing that we've been preaching about being explosive. Very disappointing. We have to go back to work."
No one blamed the offense's struggles on the absence of quarterback Jay Cutler and running back Matt Forte, held out by coach Lovie Smith. The blocking was poor, particularly in the running game, as the Bears gained only 36 yards on 21 carries.
Webb looked at it as an opportunity to improve, even if it was a lot of repetitions against players who soon will be ex-Broncos.
"I've got to get better every day and every week, and that comes with the territory," he said. "I don't think of it as a punishment. I've got to get better. If he asks me to stay in, then I will."
Smith chalked it up to wanting to see players improve, and Tice was clear earlier this week that Webb had not taken the job and run with it. The Bears explained that Chris Williams, who competed at left tackle for the first week of camp, was needed to spell right tackle Gabe Carimi, who had a sore knee. End of competition.
"Just some players we thought needed reps, we needed to see," Smith said. "Some of the guys we know a little more about right now, we didn't play as much, and that was pretty much it."
But the Bears know all they need to know about Webb. Playing in the second half of an exhibition opener isn't going to bring any revelations. Webb simply hasn't played as well as Tice would like in camp, and this was a clear way of letting him know he needs to improve.
There are no other options. If the Bears thought Williams was a solution, they never would have pulled him off the left side. Undrafted free agent James Brown is intriguing but not as a left tackle in 2012. Starters don't suddenly appear on the waiver wire in late August. Webb is the guy, and the Bears knew that almost certainly would be the case back in the spring.
Now they return to Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais for a final week of camp. Don't expect a reconfigured line, but there ought to be a lot of work being put in.
"He has every right to work us real hard this week," Spencer said. "We didn't do what we set out to do. Now we've got a place where you can look at where we are, and we know where we have to be. We have to be better."
Otherwise, Tice always could pull a fan out of the crowd.
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by JJ-30 
Restore the roar!