It was a play that the Bears have attempted repeatedly in the years prior to the acquisition of quarterback Jay Cutler, but to this point, the play has been executed with limited success.
With the ball resting inside the 5-yard line, Cutler through a pop fly fade pattern to tight end Greg Olsen in the corner of the end zone.
Olsen grabbed the ball in traffic and landed on his back, where he promptly tossed the football 20 feet directly up into the air in celebration.
It’s a play that’s been in the playbook for years, but the components to run the play correctly are finally also in place.
Olsen is entering his third season in the National Football League and seems poised to take the next step up in his development. It also doesn’t hurt at all that his new quarterback is a proponent of throwing to big targets, something the 6-foot, 5-inch, 255-pounder certainly provides.
“We’re just continuing to work, continue to talk and continuing to get on the same page,” Olsen said. “That’s what training camp is for.”
Olsen has started just 11 games in his pro career and to this point has served something of an apprenticeship to veteran Desmond Clark. But that hasn’t been the case this season and Olsen is quickly evolving into Cutler’s favorite target.
There was little doubt what the quarterback was thinking as that goal line play developed.
“It was a good play, any time you can finish off that two-minute drill with a touchdown, that’s good,” Olsen said. “We work on that play quite a bit as you can see.”
Olsen’s theatrics weren’t limited to his play around the goal line either, he made a great grab in tight coverage by linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa, demonstrating that he’s going to be a nightmare for opposing linebackers to try to cover.
“I think we kind of thought all along that we’ve got a chance to be pretty good,” Olsen said. “We’re getting to that point in camp where days are starting to get a little long, but the guys are out here working hard and trying to get better.”
Get out of my way
During team drills, Kevin Jones broke free from the first line of defense and saw only safety Kevin Payne between him and a touchdown.
Although contact at camp is usually limited, Jones plowed right through Payne, knocking him to the ground as he sauntered into the end zone.
It’s yet another good sign from Jones, who is running with considerably more authority than he did last season, when he was still recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament injury that he suffered in 2007.
Jones likely won’t be taking away many snaps from second-year standout Matt Forte, he could provide a pretty solid insurance policy as a backup.
Injury update
Tommie Harris missed another practice on Tuesday and almost certainly won’t play in Saturday’s preseason game. In addition, Harris was being fitted with a metal brace around his leg prior to Tuesday’s practice, though he did not wear the apparatus during practice.
Linebacker Jamar Williams also missed practice from the defensive unit with an injury termed “not serious.”
Veteran long snapper Patrick Mannelly also sat out practice with an injury that is being classified as a hip problem. With Mannelly out of service for an undetermined amount of time, the Bears added University of Nevada long snapper J.J. Milan to the roster. Milan has spent time on both the Oakland and Indianapolis rosters but has never appeared in a regular season game.
