Chester Taylor is looking more and more like the odd man out in the Bears’ backfield, and he’s not happy about it.
On Saturday night Taylor never got in the game against the Titans, even though the Bears could have used another running back when Marion Barber left with a calf injury. Afterward Taylor told Vaughn McClure of the Chicago Tribune that he’s frustrated, not only with not playing but with the way the coaches told him he wasn’t playing.
“My running backs coach [Tim Spencer] told me after I came out for pregame that I wasn’t playing,” Taylor said. “He didn’t give me no reason or no excuse or nothing.”
Matt Forte is well established as the Bears’ starter, and Taylor appears to be in competition for a roster spot with Barber and Kahlil Bell. But Barber and Bell have had far more playing time than Taylor this preseason, and Taylor says he doesn’t see how he’s supposed to compete for a roster spot if he can’t get the ball.
“It’s hard to get three carries in a preseason game and the other players are getting 13, 14 carries,” Taylor said. “That’s not comparing anything. It’s not from production and play.”
After the game, Taylor wasn’t hiding his frustration.
“Yeah, I’m disappointed,” Taylor said. “I’m practicing all week thinking I’m going to play. Just for them to come out of the blue and say that, yeah, I’m disappointed.”
The bottom line, however, is that Taylor signed a four-year, $12.5 million contract last year and then proceeded to carry the ball 112 times for 267, a pathetic 2.4 yards a carry. Taylor got plenty of carries last season to prove he belongs, and he didn’t take advantage of those carries. If he’s looking for someone to blame for the fact that he’s not getting many carries in the preseason this year, he should look in the mirror.