Martellus Bennett led all tight ends in the NFL with 90 catches last season, but he hasn’t raced out to a lead among his peers at the position this time around.
Bennett is tied with Tyler Eifert of the Bengals for seventh with 37 catches so far this season and he’s had 13 catches over the last three weeks, which led to questions about whether his role in the Bears offense has changed. Bennett pointed out that he does more than catch passes for Chicago -- comparing himself favorably to the likes of Jimmy Graham and Antonio Gates as a complete tight end -- and that decisions about when the ball comes his way are above his pay grade.
“I have a lot of responsibilities in the offense,” Bennett said, via ESPN.com. “You guys have to talk to Jay Cutler and [offensive coordinator] Adam Gase about [if my role has changed in recent weeks]. I’m just trying to be a really good employee. That’s all. I’m not really tripping. Whatever they ask me to do is what I do. At some point they have to come my way, but until they do there is nothing I can do about it. I’m open, so. [I don’t want to] be a bad employee. I just keep my head down and go to work. Because when you say something you become the a--h--- even if it’s a valid point. So I just avoid drama. They don’t pay the a--h----. At this point I just want to be a really good employee.”
Bennett always makes for an entertaining quote, but there’s no real sign that his role has changed dramatically this season. Only Rob Gronkowski and Greg Olsen, neither of whom are the one-dimensional types Bennett compares himself to, have been targeted more often than Bennett this season and the Bears are looking his way about as often as they did last year. He’s done less with those targets, but it would take an a--h--- to make a stink about that.