Bears secondary coach Jon Hoke said last week Craig Steltz had no reason to sulk despite a pre-camp demotion.
“It’s early,” Hoke said. “People change when they get into games. He’ll have his opportunities. There’s nothing etched in stone. And I’m sure things will start to fall his way.”
Hoke’s words were prophetic as Steltz responded with an interception, a forced fumble and five tackles Saturday in a 27-20 exhibition loss Buffalo. He picked off Bills third-string quarterback Gibran Hamdan and returned it 41 yards, setting up Caleb Hanie’s 10-yard touchdown toss to rookie Will Ta’ufo’ou in the third quarter.
Steltz, a second-year pro from LSU, was supposed to be in position to start at free safety with Mike Brown gone, but the Bears moved Danieal Manning back to the starting position.
Steltz remained in a reserve role Saturday even with Manning out nursing a hamstring injury. The Bears started Kevin Payne and rookie Al Afalava at the safety spots, with Steltz running with the second team alongside Josh Bullocks.
Steltz has kept a positive attitude throughout.
“I’m just going to continue to work hard and get better every day,” he said. “All you can do is go out there and make plays when you have your opportunities. In camp, those plays just weren’t happening for me. But I just have to keep working hard.”
High praise: Hall of Fame running back Thurman Thomas, a five-time Pro Bowler with the Bills, was no doubt disappointed to see Matt Forte out of the Bears’ lineup Saturday night. Thomas was impressed with Forte’s rookie performance.
“I like him,” Thomas said after the game. “Coming out that first year, a lot of people didn’t know about him. Then he came through all year long.
“He could be a really good player, but it all depends on the offensive line. The other thing I like about him is that he catches the ball out of the backfield. He’s not just back there being a running back. I like to see guys who are all-around backs.”
On the defensive: In assessing the first-team defense’s performance Saturday, four-time Pro Bowler Lance Briggs wasn’t overly enthusiastic.
The starters played 24 snaps, gave up 121 yards and allowed quarterback Trent Edwards to complete all 10 of his passes.
“Things to build on,” Briggs said. “I’m not going to say it was bad. I’m not going to say it was good. It’s the first game and the first opportunity to make corrections on the things we did.”
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vxmcclure@tribune.com
