Former Bears running back Tim Worley might have dropped by Halas Hall on Monday only to hook up with old friends or show off his distinctive car, but his timing was strangely symbolic.
With the Bears’ battered running game coach Dave Wannstedt’s biggest concern during this bye week, it’s not unreasonable to think the team might be open to new blood. The backs ambled for just 47 yards on 20 carries in Sunday’s 34-28 defeat against St. Louis, and three–Robert Green, Lewis Tillman and Raymont Harris–are out with injuries.
But Wannstedt apparently isn’t looking around for new players. He’s waiting, patiently, for the injuries to heal. And he’s sticking with rookie Rashaan Salaam as the starter when the Bears play Carolina in two weeks, even though two former starters, Green and Tillman, should be ready by then.
“Rashaan will start,” said Wannstedt. “But we’re hoping Robert and Lewis would be able to play because we need them both.”
The Bears’ rushing average has steadily decreased from 5.1 yards per carry in the season opener against Minnesota to 2.4 against St. Louis.
Overall, though, Bears running backs are averaging 3.8 yards after four games. That’s just shy of 4 yards, the number running backs coach Willie Peete uses as a reasonable yardstick. Last year after four games, the Bears were averaging just 2.5 yards per carry.
An improved offensive line and Green, who was primarily a special-teams and third-down back before this season, are two big reasons for the higher average. Green, who started against Green Bay and Tampa Bay but injured his ankle against the Bucs, leads the Bears with 199 yards on 27 carries, a 7.4 average. He also has caught eight passes for 82 yards, a dimension Salaam hasn’t developed.
Still, Green has lost his hard-earned starting spot to Salaam.
“I expected it,” Green said simply. “That’s the program. They didn’t bring him in to sit on the bench. But I’ll be ready to go in and do whatever they ask me to do.”
Salaam, the Bears’ No. 1 draft pick this year, made his first NFL start Sunday because of all the injuries and gained 40 yards on 16 carries, a 2.5-yard average. He also gave up a costly fumble and wasn’t used during the 2-minute offense. Quarterback Erik Kramer’s eye-popping 317 yards in the air made up for the weak ground game, but Wannstedt is anxious to get the Bears’ traditionally strong running game rolling again.
“We’d love to throw for 300 yards every week, but when we become a real good team we’ll be rushing for over 100 yards and won’t ever get blinded by and thinking that’s how we’re going to go about it,” said Wannstedt. “If we want to throw for 300, we’ll do it, but we’ve got to get our running game going and that will be the focus on offense this week.”
In victories over the Vikings and the Bucs, the Bears rushed for more than 100 yards both times. But in losing to Green Bay, they gained just 92 yards on 24 carries, and against St. Louis just 47 yards on 20 carries.
Salaam, of course, is the player coaches had hoped would be the key, and Wannstedt said the 20-year-old simply needs more repetitions and game time. Salaam isn’t saying what’s going through his mind, but his aversion to the media is nothing complicated. He has said he simply wants to focus on the game instead of talking about it.
“I would not read any more into it than he’s just a little discouraged right now and trying to get himself playing to a level he’s capable of playing,” said Wannstedt, explaining that Salaam was upset over his fumble Sunday. “He’s running cautiously now, trying to get himself into a groove, comfortable.”
Peete said Salaam wasn’t running with his usual intensity early in the game, but made two or three nice runs later.
“Regardless of whether the fumble is his fault or not, he’s got to forget about it and move on to the next play,” said Peete. “If you dwell on them, they just carry over.”
It’s hard, though, when well-meaning teammates keep patting you on the back and telling you not to worry about something, thus reminding you of the botched play.
“They just want to keep his confidence up,” said Peete.
