Thread: Carimi at a position he had never played before

Losing Louis is a huge blow.

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Gabe Carimi never lined up at guard when he played at Wisconsin. He didn’t do it in high school or youth football, either. But four days after the 2011 first-round draft pick was benched, that is where he found himself with 10:44 remaining in the third quarter Sunday.

Carimi was called on to replace Lance Louis, who was lost to a knee injury on Antoine Winfield’s interception return after a vicious block by Vikings defensive end Jared Allen.

“I knew I would eventually have an opportunity,” Carimi said. “I didn’t want it to be this way but I got in there and helped out the team when it needed it.”

He probably didn’t want it to be at guard, either. Even though he knows many of the assignments for right guard because he worked in tandem with the position when making 12 starts at right tackle, he still doesn’t know the position. When the right guard pulls on a play, that’s something Carimi hasn’t done. So, what did the Bears do on his first snap? They ran right with Matt Forte as Carimi and fill-in left guard Edwin Williams were called on to block. Carimi sealed off Vikings strong-side linebacker Chad Greenway and Williams blocked middle linebacker Jasper Brinkley. It looked like Carimi possibly should have extended further out before executing a block but, hey, he was learning on the go.

“I normally don’t have that block,” Carimi said. “(Center Roberto) Garza helped me out a lot. He looked at me like this (holding his hand up to hide his mouth) while we were walking up to the line to explain the play.”

Said Garza: “Everybody was trying to help everybody. He had never played guard before so I was just trying to help him with little things. We were in a tough situation. No one else could get hurt.”

Give Carimi credit. He’d played poorly and earned his trip to the bench but he maintained a positive outlook and continued to put in work. He didn’t run from his struggles when asked about them or blame his right knee that he injured last season and spent the entire offseason rehabilitating. He’s got character off the charts, so if the Bears are in a jam again Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks, they may turn to Carimi.

Spencer suffered a left knee injury and will have an MRI on Monday. Allen said he was told Louis suffered an MCL injury to his left knee. Early indications are Louis could miss at least a few weeks. If the Bears are down one guard, they can use Williams, who made seven starts at left guard last season and has 10 career starts with the Bears and 12 total. If the Bears are down two guards, they’ve got a decision to make:

A. Give Carimi a crash-course on the position this week.

B. Use undrafted rookie free agent James Brown, who was just promoted to the 53-man roster from the practice squad last week. But offensive line coach Tim Holt said the staff isn’t sure if Brown is a tackle or a guard yet.

C. Sign a street free agent and get him up to speed in a matter of days. Or perhaps try to sign guard Ricky Henry off the practice squad of the New Orleans Saints. He was one of the final cuts in camp so he knows the offense.

We’ll see, but offensive coordinator Mike Tice has a track record of trying at least one former tackle at guard, shifting former first-round draft pick Chris Williams inside in 2010. It’s a shame for the Bears that Chilo Rachal had a meltdown after he was benched last Wednesday because he would still be in the mix. Moved to the reserve/non-football injury list, Rachal is no longer an option this season.

Could Carimi be ready in a week?

“Yeah, I am ready to go wherever they put me,” he said. “Hopefully Lance is back because he is our true guard.”

2. When I told Jared Allen in the Vikings' locker room that the Bears were grumbling about the blindside hit he put on Lance Louis, he at least pretended to be surprised.

Allen cleaned Louis out on Antoine Winfield’s interception return when Jay Cutler threw high over the middle for Brandon Marshall and the ball was deflected. Allen launched himself high at Louis and you could see the left knee buckle as Louis went down.

“I never try to hurt anybody, honestly,” Allen said. “I checked to see how we doing. I heard he had an MCL (sprain) and my condolences to him and his family. My intent is never to hurt anybody. We had an interception, I turned around, he’s running to make a tackle, Antoine is running down the sideline and I threw a block.

“I didn’t hit him in the head or nothing. I threw my shoulder pad into his chest and unfortunately that happens. I have never, ever had an ill intent when I am out there. It is just trying to make a play.”