By Adam Hoge-
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Here’s a bonus edition of 10 Bears Things as we tie up some loose ends from the Bears’ 27-19 win over the Jets.
1. “Disrespected” Bennett comes up with a big game. During warmups at MetLife Stadium Monday night, Bears tight end Martellus Bennett found Rex Ryan and made sure to let the Jets head coach know how he felt.
“I told him next time you mention me use a little enthusiasm,” Bennett said.
The tight end wasn’t happy that he was left out of Ryan’s praise for the Bears’ offensive weapons earlier in the week.
“I felt a little disrespected,” Bennett said. “We played a highlight video and in that highlight video Rex was talking about how we got monsters on the outside with Alshon and Brandon, but then he was like, ‘Oh yeah, the tight end is a big dude.’”
It might seem petty, but it certainly had Bennett fired up on a night where he finished with five catches for 54 yards and two touchdowns.
“I just feel like when he talks about me, he should talk about me with enthusiasm as well,” Bennett said. “He was just kind of like monotone when he mentioned me so I was kind of pissed about that.”
Bennett is quietly off to a great start to the season as his four touchdown receptions are tied with Brandon Marshall for second-most in the NFL. The Bears’ duo only trails Julius Thomas’ five touchdown catches.
2. Jon Bostic wasn’t as prepared to play SAM linebacker as you might think. The Bears tried to hype up the competition between Bostic and McClellin at strong-side linebacker all offseason, but the reality is that the job was always McClellin’s to lose. It was apparent by the time minicamp rolled around in June that Bostic’s role this year would be to backup all three linebackers spots and play alongside Lance Briggs in the nickel package.
So, while Bostic was ready to fill in at SAM, he still had to do some cramming late in the week after Shea McClellin broke his hand in Thursday’s practice.
“I think I (played SAM) once maybe during camp. A day or something,” Bostic said. “I don’t even know how long that lasted. I don’t even know if I did it in camp to be honest with you. It’s not an excuse. Gotta go out there and be productive.”
Bostic was productive, accumulating a game-high 13 tackles, although he did drop an easy touchdown on the Jets’ final drive.
“I got to get on (the JUGS machine),” he said. “I made that game a lot harder than it needed to me.”
At this point it’s still unclear how much time McClellin will miss with his hand injury, but it’s unlikely his job is in jeopardy. The Bears have four linebackers they like and they’ll continue to use them accordingly based on the matchups. McClellin’s pass rushing ability is unique among the group so he’ll continue to be used as an edge rusher.
Quite frankly, if Bostic does command more playing time in the base defense, it’s probably middle linebacker D.J. Williams who has to worry about his job more than McClellin, although Williams played much better Monday night.
Either way, Bostic is creating a good problem for the Bears with his play.
3. Will Sutton had a birthday present for Ego Ferguson: A sack. At least that’s how Sutton looked at it. Ferguson got his first NFL sack Monday night, but it was set up by a quick rush by Sutton that flushed Geno Smith right to Ferguson to clean up.
“I told him it was his birthday present,” Sutton said.
Ferguson turned 23 on Monday.
“Will threw an alley-oop and I went to go get it,” the rookie said.
4. Chris Conte is struggling to stay on the field. He left the game three different times Monday after leaving last week’s game with a shoulder injury. The first trip to the sideline was just because he got one of the rubber pebbles from the field in his eye, but the second time was because of his nagging left shoulder, which he hurt a week ago against the 49ers. Conte returned to the game but then left for good later on.
The safety was the first player to head to the team bus after the game, leaving before the locker rom was even open to the media. He left carrying a bag without a sling or anything, but chances are he’ll have more testing done Tuesday.
The Bears are very banged up at safety, as Ryan Mundy also left the game with shoulder injury that is not expected to be serious.
5. For the second straight week, Jay Cutler had the Bears’ longest run of the game. His 16-yard scramble doubled Matt Forte’s longest run of the night, which was only eight yards.
6. Through three games, Brian de la Puente is Pro Football Focus’ top ranked center in the NFL. I have yet to grade out Monday night’s game, but through two games, I had de la Puente with a solid 2.0 grade (0.0 is average), which was second to only left tackle Jermon Bushrod (2.5) on the Bears’ offensive line. Bushrod struggled at times Monday night, however, so it wouldn’t surprise me de la Puente overtakes him this week in my grade book.
The center is proving to be a timely offseason pickup for Bears general manager Phil Emery and it creates an interesting situation when Roberto Garza returns from his ankle injury. Both players are on one-year deals with Garza making $1.5 million and de la Puente just one dollar over the vet minimum of $730,000, plus a signing bonus of $65,000. That one dollar prevented the Bears from saving $160,000 of cap space on a minimum salary benefit deal, but it also allows the Bears to extend de la Puente before the start of the next league year in March. So essentially the Bears are paying $160,001 in cap space for exclusive negotiating rights to de la Puente between now and March. That could certainly pay off as the 29-year-old center is six years younger than Garza.
7. Sutton is tied for the league lead in Run Stop Percentage among defensive tackles, according to Pro Football Focus. He was known more as a pass rusher coming out of Arizona State, but he’s been stout against the run so far this season and he came up with a big stuff at the goal line Monday night when the Jets called for a Geno Smith keeper on third down.
8. Keeping the Pro Football Focus theme going, Jay Cutler completed a remarkable 85.7% of his passes Monday night when under pressure. Of course, he only completed 60.5 percent of his passes overall, which was partly due to some drops and partly due to a couple short passes that just got away from him early. PFF gave Cutler an 71.4 percent QB accuracy percentage, which takes into account drops, throw aways, e.t.c.
9. Marty Mornhinweg’s play calling was somewhat confusing. The Jets’ offensive coordinator had an interesting night, and it came after he accepted some blame for his team’s loss in Green Bay last week.
On top of the odd Smith keeper on 3rd-and-goal from the two, he also only gave Chris Johnson and Chris Ivory 10 carries each. I know the Jets were playing from behind the entire game, but allowing Geno Smith to throw the ball 43 times when you possess the league’s top rushing attack is very questionable. The Bears deserve credit for stopping the run, but Ivory still averaged 4.4 yards per carry, which is respectable.
10. The attention now quickly turns to the Packers on a short week. Players will gather at Halas Hall Wednesday to start working on the game plan, but the Bears will only practice on Thursday and Friday with a final walk-through Saturday. The Bears are just 2-9 against the Packers since Jay Cutler’s arrival in 2009, but considering the holes in the Green Bay defense and sudden sputtering of Aaron Rodgers’ offense, they have to feel like this is a game they should win at home.
If you want to win the NFC North, you have to beat the Packers, especially at home.
Adam Hoge covers the Bears for 87.7 The Game and TheGameChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter at @AdamHoge.