Bears tight end Greg Olsen knows everyone is wondering whether he’s a good fit in the offense run by new coordinator Mike Martz. But he’s getting tired of talking about it.
“I’ve addressed this a million times,” Olsen said. “I feel good the way things have gone so far, and it’s early in the process, but so far everything’s been great.”
A million times is a slight exaggeration, but It’s true that Olsen has addressed the issue. However, Olsen himself acknowledged that he was concerned at first about Martz’s offense, and with good reason: Martz typically views tight ends as blockers first and receivers second.
Olsen, on the other hand, has always been a receiver first, and last year he was the Bears’ leading receiver, with 60 catches. Martz typically doesn’t give tight ends the opportunity to catch 60 passes in a season.
But Olsen thinks Martz’s philosophy ultimately comes down to putting the ball in the best players’ hands.
“Sometimes you focus your offense around what you’ve got,” Olsen said. “In the past, [Martz] has had great wide receivers and great backs. It’s the same here, but we feel like we have a couple tight ends who can do some stuff in the passing game along with those other guys. So we’ll see how that works out.”