Just when the Bears answered the biggest question surrounding the offensive line, just when it seemed the line was going to get a chance to mold into a unit, along comes another injury.
Again, Rex Tucker goes down. Again, the most important unit on the team suffers a setback.
And again, Mike Gandy gets a chance to step in and help out.
Over the last three years, the Bears’ offensive line hasn’t been able to catch a break. Starters have come and gone, mostly because of injuries. It’s not easy to win consistently without a cohesive offensive line, unless you have a quarterback like Tom Brady, who covered for such problems in New England last season.
The Kansas City Chiefs were a model of offensive-line stability until the Bears signed away John Tait, whom they have decided will stay at right tackle. That, at least, gave the Bears three experienced starters they could count on–Tait, Tucker and Pro Bowl center Olin Kreutz.
Until Monday afternoon.
Tucker missed all of last season with a right ankle injury and the last 11 games of 2002 with a left leg injury. The dislocated elbow Tucker suffered in practice changes everything.
“It’s tough,” Gandy said. “We’re a tough, hard-nosed football team, and things like that happen. Everyone’s had their things here and there.”
And that includes Gandy, who has had a roller-coaster career with the Bears and, for the moment, is the starting left guard.
The Bears drafted Gandy out of Notre Dame in the third round in 2001, but he was inactive for every game of the 13-3 joyride season. During training camp in 2002, Gandy found his name involved in trade talk when the Redskins had trouble signing rookie quarterback Patrick Ramsey.
Gandy got his shot in 2002. A natural guard, he took over at left tackle when Marc Colombo went down with a knee injury that still has him out. Gandy showed promise as a tackle but struggled at times last season, when he lined up and gave it his best shot for 16 weeks.
“I think being out there at tackle made me pick up things a lot quicker, and it helped me with pass protection and footwork,” said Gandy, finding the bright side of a tough season.
Gandy has never been able to settle into a role with the Bears, and if he does wind up starting, will the Bears have to replace him next winter? His contract is up, and will he want to jump off the Chicago roller-coaster? That’s a question for later.
“I’m glad to have the opportunity to play in the NFL,” he said. “I’ve had some success, started some games. I’m taking it season by season, game by game and doing the best I can.”
Terrence Metcalf, who is signed through next season, is in the running at guard. Steve Edwards became the starter there overnight when Tucker was hurt in the final exhibition game last year. And Ruben Brown went to eight Pro Bowls as a left guard for Buffalo.
“A lot of those guys are interchangeable,” said offensive line coach Pete Hoener. “We have the luxury that they’ve worked on both the left and right sides.”
If Tucker is out for a long time, it will make for a tough season for Kreutz, who played without Tucker last season but at least had Chris Villarrial next to him. They had played together for five years, but Villarrial left for Buffalo as a free agent. Kreutz was upset about Tucker’s injury, declining to comment.
Going with Gandy at left guard and Brown at right guard would not be a disaster, but it would be a big change for Kreutz, who combined with Tucker and Villarrial to give the Bears a solid interior line in 2001. That year, Kreutz went to his first Pro Bowl and Tucker was an alternate in his first season as a starter.
“[Tucker] is a great player, and he has some good players behind him who have to step up,” quarterback Rex Grossman said. “I’m sure Olin will get them all straight. And we have Reuben Brown, an eight-time Pro Bowler. We have Mike Gandy, Terrence Metcalf; someone has to step it up.”
