Angelo On O-Line: 'Nobody Did More Than The Chicago Bears'
(CBS) Despite getting to the NFC Championship Game last season, one could argue no team in the NFL had a more glaring weakness than the Bears' offensive line.
So, going into the off-season, the Bears made it a priority to address their problems on the line. Unfortunately, two games into the season, the offensive line appears to once again be in shambles with two injuries and a league-high 11 sacks given up.
Still, Bears general manager Jerry Angelo thinks the Bears did everything they could to improve the offensive line in the off-season.
"We did everything you could possibly do to that position. Nobody did more than the Chicago Bears," he told ChicagoBears.com. "We drafted a player (Gabe Carimi) in the first round. We brought in a player (Chris Spencer) with a lot of NFL experience who is still in his prime. We developed young players who are going into their second and third years, including another high draft pick in Chris Williams. We like our eight linemen. That's not an issue. Injuries happen, and then you have to adjust accordingly. Everything bad that happened on Sunday wasn't all because of poor offensive line play. Believe me when I tell you that. It was a collective failure. The defense and special teams share part of that as well. So let's not beat up on the offensive line."
The Bears currently have two injuries on the offensive line as right tackle Gabe Carimi is nursing a knee injury and could miss a month, while Lance Louis has been out with ankle injury since the season opener. For now, Angelo has confidence in Chris Spencer and Frank Omiyale who are filling in.
"We have to have faith in them. We trained them. They're ours," he told ChicagoBears.com. "They've got to step up and get it done. It's that simple. You don't like to play musical chairs at any position, but that's particularly true on the offensive line. You want to keep those five guys the same week-in and week-out. They don't have to be the best players, but they have to be players who know each other the best on the field. That's football. So obviously that's going to be our challenge, and I'm confident that the coaches are going to get not only the best out of our players but know exactly what they can and can't do and play accordingly."
