Left tackle Chris Williams to play with starting offensive line

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/footb...sive-line.html
Left tackle Chris Williams to play with starting offensive line

BY SEAN JENSEN sjensen@suntimes.com August 16, 2012 5:08PM


BOURBONNAIS — Left tackle Chris Williams figures to get more playing time with the starters Saturday against the Washington Redskins.
But the veteran isn’t changing his mind-set at all.
‘‘I’m the same guy,’’ Williams said. ‘‘I’m going to go out and play hard and let everything set itself up the way it’s going to.’’
Williams downplayed getting time with the starters as being a second chance, but he added, ‘‘It’s a chance for me to go out and win a starting job, which I’ve been trying to do all along.’’
He and J’Marcus Webb will have their hands full with Brian Orakpo, who has 28½ sacks the last three seasons.
Williams, though, doesn’t feel any added pressure.
‘‘We’ve all got something to prove,’’ he said. ‘‘I want to prove I can go out and block anyone and block people consistently. There’s nothing extra for me.”
Asked about the left-tackle position, Bears coach Lovie Smith said he wants to get all the positions solidified.
‘‘Not many of us performed the way we needed to last week,’’ Smith said, referring to the 31-3 loss to the Denver Broncos. ‘‘I assume we’re all going to do a good job this week, left tackle included.’’
RG3 coming
Robert Griffin III, the second overall pick in the 2012 draft, will be featured for the Redskins on Saturday.
And based on his debut last week, the Heisman Trophy winner doesn’t look like he’s going to need much time to make the transition to the NFL.
‘‘I’ve been impressed with him for a long time,’’ Smith said. ‘‘His college coach is an old high school friend of mine, so I followed him and them quite a bit. He can do everything you want a quarterback to do. I think he had over a 145 quarterback rating in the 14 plays he played last week.’’
Rookie defensive end Shea McClellin said the key for the Bears’ defense will be to contain Griffin.
Added defensive end Corey Wootton: ‘‘You just have to follow your keys and play the angles on guys like that.’’
Hayes’ chance
With Nick Roach playing in place of Brian Urlacher at middle linebacker, coaches and players are curious to see what veteran Geno Hayes will do filling in for Roach at strong-side linebacker.
‘‘Just like for all of our players, this is a big game for him this week,’’ Smith said.

Wouldn't it be great if C.Will has improved to where he can nail down that LT position? You never know what is going to happen with younger players. I'd LOVE to see him kick some butt tomorrow night and showcase that he CAN be a solid LT for us.

Or, heck, I'd be thrilled if Webb did the same. I don't have a favorite player here. I just want one of these guys to step up. If one does, then our season is going to be great. I can't wait to see the game tomorrow night.

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Originally Posted by JustAnotherBearsFan99

Wouldn't it be great if C.Will has improved to where he can nail down that LT position? You never know what is going to happen with younger players. I'd LOVE to see him kick some butt tomorrow night and showcase that he CAN be a solid LT for us.

Or, heck, I'd be thrilled if Webb did the same. I don't have a favorite player here. I just want one of these guys to step up. If one does, then our season is going to be great. I can't wait to see the game tomorrow night.

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Yeah, I'd go along with that. Since we can't play 'em both at the same time one of them rising above crappy would be nice and I really don't care which one either. Although I still think we'd be better off with CWill back at LT and Brown competing with Webb. Even if he is just an UDFA rookie I still have a good feeling about the kid.

I don't even care. I just want one of them to seperate from the other and become a good LT.

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Originally Posted by soulman

Yeah, I'd go along with that. Since we can't play 'em both at the same time one of them rising above crappy would be nice and I really don't care which one either. Although I still think we'd be better off with CWill back at LT and Brown competing with Webb. Even if he is just an UDFA rookie I still have a good feeling about the kid.

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I'll be interested to see how Spencer does at LG. I'd like to see J.Brown get a tryout at LT later on.

Spencer is probably "serviceable" for this year. Drafting a guard replacement for him would not be tough. It's the LT position that is so hard to fill. Even RT is not quite as tough to find. Most years you can get an absolute stud guard in the 2nd round. You don't have to spend a 1st round pick on an OG.

But they shouldn't think they can easily do this with an UFA. That's going to the other extreme.

There are always exceptions to the norm though. You do see some exceptional UFA's have great careers. Brown could be a solid player for us. I'd sure like to see him ultimately be a great tackle.

I do have one thought about Tice. I have nothing factual to base this on. But I do have a feeling he was told that they couldn't help him with the oline this year. That if he was the "good soldier" and did the best with the existing players, that they would "fix" the online in '13.

If this did happen, I'm sure they sat down with him to see if he could possibly coach this existing group to a level that we wouldn't cripple our season (or Cutler for that matter). With play calling and giving the LT help this year, I'm sure Tice agreed to this. And consequently Emery put together a pretty solid team (on paper) for this season.

Next year, watch the oline get the attention in a significant way - like the WR's did this season.

It's just my gut feeling how this all played out for the '12 season.

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Originally Posted by short faced bear

I'll be interested to see how Spencer does at LG. I'd like to see J.Brown get a tryout at LT later on.

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Hopefully better than last week--he was terrible.