Mike Tice
won’t make the same mistake again.
The Bears offensive coordinator strayed from the running game the last time his Bears faced an NFC North team: A 23-10 loss to the Packers in Green Bay in Week 2, when Tice’s offense had just 11 rushing attempts.
“There was a guy that was calling plays in Green Bay who didn’t call the run enough,” Tice said, poking fun at himself. “That was part of the problem. Hopefully, he’s not showing up this week.”
True, the Lions’ front seven is one of the best in the league and they have allowed less than 100 rushing yards per game (96.4). But
Matt Forte
has enjoyed great success against the Lions in his career, with 678 rushing yards on 135 attempts and four touchdowns in eight games.
Tice said his offense struggled to run against the 3-4 defenses they faced earlier in the season but have ironed out the problems.
“I only look at how we’re improving. I don’t worry about up and down,” Tice said of the running game. “I take the first part of it and see that we’re getting better at things each week.”
Saying goodbye:
Tice offered his take on the release of
Chris Williams.
The departed offensive lineman said he never felt like he was one of Tice’s guys.
“Chris is a great guy,” Tice said. “We had a great talk after we released him. He has had some bad breaks. He has had some bad injury breaks. We tried to move him inside a little bit and just as things were going last year he got dinged up a little bit. He lost some time.
“The organization felt it would be good for him to get a fresh start, and we have some young guys we like and that’s part of the thing. We brought
Jonathan (Scott)
in and Jonathan has been a starter in this league, although a backup starter.
“Chris did everything we asked him to do. I wish him the best of luck and he knows that.”
Williams has visited the Eagles and Cardinals.
Bad blood?
Lions quarterback
Matthew Stafford
refused to take the bait when asked if the rivalry with the Bears intensified after last season’s melee at Soldier Field.
Stafford grabbed
D.J. Moore
and threw him to the ground. Moore went after Stafford, was ejected and then got fined $15,000 for the incident. Stafford was fined $7,500.
“Once the ball’s put down and it’s whistled ready for play, man, it’s another game, it’s a different game,” Stafford said, downplaying any hatred between the teams. “The beauty of the NFL is every week is different, and you have to approach it that way.”
Injury update:
Devin Hester,
who practiced Wednesday, did not practice Thursday as a result of a quad injury. Coach
Lovie Smith
indicated the injury was not serious.
Also held were receiver
Alshon Jeffery,
who continues to recover from a broken right hand, linebacker
Blake Costanzo,
who had surgery on his right thumb, and defensive back
Sherrick McManis,
who has a hip injury. Costanzo vowed to return to practice Friday and play Monday.
Punter
Adam Podlesh
was excused from practice with his wife due to give birth to a child.
In Detroit,
Louis Delmas
(knee),
Kyle Vanden Bosch
(non-injury related),
Bill Bentley
(shoulder), and
Jacob Lacey
(concussion) all missed practice.
Twitter @vxmcclure23
