Give Kahlil Bell credit. His confidence never wanes.
The Bears running back was asked about the possibility of filling in Sunday for the injured Marion Barber in short-yardage situations against the Falcons at Soldier Field.
“I can be anything they need me to be,” Bell said. “I don’t pigeonhole myself into saying I’m a short-yardage back or a third-down back. My goal, ever since I was a little kid, was to be an every-down back in the NFL.”
Bell will have to wait his turn for that opportunity with Matt Forte the unquestioned starter. But that’s not to say Bell won’t get his chances Sunday, even though Forte is likely to get the first shot at the tough yards. The Bears struggled miserably last season, converting just 11 of 23 (48 percent) on third-and-1 and 2 of 7 (29 percent) on fourth down.
“We’ve talked about changing things in terms of how we do certain runs,” running backs coach Tim Spencer said. “And I think we’ll be OK.”
Specifically, the backs are less likely to run to a certain area and more likely to focus on winning one-on-one matchups in short-yardage situations. Of course, it all depends on good vision and the blockers getting the job done.
“We have some schemes that we’ve worked on diligently and feel comfortable with,” offensive line coach Mike Tice said. “Plus we’re bigger up front.”
In terms of the 6-foot-2, 218-pound Forte, Spencer has spoken to him about tinkering his style for short-yardage plays.
“He is a back who runs high, but all tall backs run high,” Spencer said. “They can be taught to run a lot lower. Matt’s trying to score all the time, (so he tends) to look (up) a little bit. It’s just a matter of getting your body leaning down. And he has done a great job with that.”
Spencer expressed no concerns with the 5-11, 219-pound Bell.
“Kahlil runs hard and he runs nice and low with nice leverage, nice cuts,” Spencer said. “Is he a 240-pound back? No. But I feel pretty good about him.”
Extra points: Defensive end Corey Wootton, recovering from knee surgery, is listed as questionable for Sunday but doesn’t expect to play. … Receiver Sam Hurd (ankle) is listed as questionable, and nose tackle Anthony Adams (calf) is listed as probable. … For the Falcons, center Todd McClure (knee) and defensive tackle Corey Peters (knee) officially were ruled out.
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