The Bears still don’t know what to do about their wide receiver options
The Bears’ Jay Cutler won’t know about his options at the wide receiver position for the team’s game on Sunday night against the 49ers are until shortly after it begins, and price per head agents believe that the quarterback could be in a difficult position.
On Friday, Bears WR Brandon Marshall was not able to hold practice after saying that he was looking to put his injured ankle to the test.
Josh Morgan was listed as doubtful after the backup receiver wasn’t able to practice for a second time in a row due to an injury to the groin.
On Friday, Alshon Jeffery practiced this week for the first time. The starting receiver suffered a pulled hamstring and is questionable for the game.
”We’ll see where we are closer to the game,” said coach Marc Trestman. ”We’ve got up to 90 minutes before the game to make those decisions and we’re going to use every minute of it to make sure we make the right decision in the best interests of the team, and certainly for the player.”
Marshall was only jogging, and the player went through the Bears’ walk-through part of practice, while Jeffery did not take part in some plays.
Jeffery ended up leaving the Browns’ 23-20 loss to Buffalo on Sunday shortly after the second half started.
”I feel pretty good,” he said. ”I mean, practice and the game are different. We’ll see how I feel.”
The coach said that there is no such thing as an overall policy when it comes to using a player who was not fit to practice in the week, saying that it is a ”player to player decision.”
”The No. 1 thing I want to be sure is that the player is healthy enough to play the game and can be safe out there,” he said.
As Jeffery, Marshall, and Morgan aren’t doing a lot on the field, the team’s only WR who was able to participate this week in most practices was Santonio Holmes. The player did not join the team until the week before the third game of the preseason got underway.
Rashad Ross, Josh Bellamy, and Greg Herd – all players in the practice squad – were working with the first team, and on Wednesday, the team signed WR Chris Williams after he was cut when the preseason ended.
In 2012, Bellamy was playing with the Kansas City Chief, and last year he was with the Washington Redskins. In the preseason, the player caught the ball seven times for 140 yards.
”I recall that when he had some opportunities, he made some plays,” the coach said. ”The last game he made some plays, he showed some speed and did some good things.
”We’ll see how this thing continues to progress, but he’s been with us a long time, he knows the system.”
During preseason and training camp, the coaching staff had Cutler work more alongside backups than he did in the last years spent with the Bears.
”That was a smart move looking back on it, taking a lot of reps with those guys in training camp and even OTAs,” the player said.
”I’ve got a good comfort level for what Josh Bellamy and Josh Morgan and all those guys can do physically, what they’re good at, what routes they like, how they’re coming out of cuts.
”So it’s a good thing that we did that.”
Price per head agents can see that things are now clearer regarding the team’s offense.
