Day: September 4, 2013

Mark Potash at the Chicago Sun-Times addresses a choice which will tell us the direction which the Bears are to take this year. At least initially:

“D.J. Williams or Jon Bostic?”

“Williams has earned the respect. He’s a nine-year starter who led the Denver Broncos in tackles five times. The Bears likely will be better with him at middle linebacker — at least at the beginning of the season.”

And that’s the bottom line isn’t it? Bostic, like many young linebackers, has a tough time taking on blockers against the run. And the Bengals are exactly the kind of team that will run over him up the gut over and over until he learns to stop it. And he will learn. But not after some growing pains. For all of us.

I’m going to bet they start Williams and try to win now. If the find themselves with a losing record at the halfway point, they may reconsider. But I think the only thing that puts the Bears rookie on the field now is if the injury to Williams is still affecting his play.

But I could be wrong. The choice before the Bears is a defining one, not just for the middle linebacker position but for the team overall. The Bears may decide to go with the future now and live with Bostic until he gets his feet under him. If they do, its going to tell us something about this season and what to expect. Its going to be about future Super Bowls rather than present playoff berths.

I think Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune probably has the right of it on the release on tackle Jon Scott:

“The Bears signed Scott after the Week 1 game last season because they did not want to be on the hook for his full season’s salary in the event they decided to make a change. The plan could be to bring him back in a week or two when his knee is healthy. The departure of Scott makes Eben Britton the swing tackle for this week and the foreseeable future.”

There’s no reason to carry Scott on the roster for week 1 if he can’t play. The Bears likely thought it was worth the risk that another team would try to pick Scott up in the meantime. So we will likely see Scott back for week 2 or 3 if all goes according to plan.