Bears offensive coordinator Mike Tice acknowledged J'Marcus Webb's shortcomings but also pointed out Webb's past success. (AP Images) |
Unlike Jay Cutler, Bears offensive coordinator Mike Tice doled out blame Wednesday for the team's poor offensive effort in a 23-10 loss at Green Bay without shoving anyone -- with the exception of guard Chris Spencer being shoved out of the lineup in favor of Chilo Rachal.
In fact, Tice did very little finger pointing after the first defeat since he became offensive coordinator -- even struggling left tackle J'Marcus Webb failed to get much criticism.
"The player that you’re singling out wasn’t the only player that had some plays that I’m sure he wish he had back," Tice said. "I had some plays I wish I had back, too."
While trying to change the subject to the St. Louis Rams this Sunday and defensive lineman Chris Long, Tice did acknowledge Webb's shortcomings, but he also pointed to Webb's past success as explanation for why the only offensive line change this week is Rachal for Spencer at left guard and not Webb going to the bench.
“We had some plays where we definitely had some help [blocking for Webb] there," Tice said. "You also have to understand if you’re using a back for that help and the back’s guy rushes, then there is no help. That’s part of the equation.
"We also know from history -- and we can specifically talk about J’Marcus -- that in the five games he’s played against Green Bay, he’s fared pretty well. And he also came off with a pretty decent performance the week before where I heard people talking and texting me about 'does he get the game ball?' So he couldn’t have been that bad the week before. It’s a long season. This is a young player that didn’t want to go out there and play at that level, so we’ll see how he bounces back and we’ll see how we all bounce back."
Tice views moving Rachal into the lineup for Spencer against St. Louis as anything but a gamble.
"We felt like coming out of training camp it was almost dead even, and I think I said if it’s not broke, don’t fix it," Tice said. "We were actually playing pretty good ball coming out of camp. We went a number of weeks with hardly any sacks. We knew we had to run the ball better. But if it wasn’t broke, don’t fix it.
"So now it’s broke, so we’ll make a change."
The offensive line wasn't the only struggling aspect of the team's offense. The passing attack failed to handle Green Bay's two-man coverage scheme.
"We knew they played two-man," Tice said. "They played two-man on third down, so we were prepared for two-man in that situation."
The bottom line, he said, is players have a job to do on each down regardless of the scheme.
"At the same time, it’s very important in this league that you win the individual battles and I think at the end of the day, we didn’t win enough of those,” he said.
Follow Bears reporter Gene Chamberlain on Twitter @CBSBears.