Bears need running game to be more productive

Ranked 10th in the NFL in passing and 30th in rushing, the Bears will be seeking a more balanced offensive attack Sunday night when they host the Philadelphia Eagles.

“We are a running football team, but we’ll do what we need to do to win football games,” said coach Lovie Smith. “If that’s passing to help our running game, I think they go hand-in-hand.

“I still think this time of year you need to have a running game. Speaking defensively, it’s a lot easier preparing when you know a team’s going to come out throwing the football. It’s a lot easier defending that I think more so than being able to do both. We would like to do both. We need to do both to win games.”

While the Bears are 0-3 when quarterback Jay Cutler passes for at least 300 yards this season, they’ve rushed for average of 112.5 yards in their four wins and just 63.4 yards in their five losses.

“We’ve struggled running the ball,” Cutler said. “We’ve been in some situations where we have been forced to pass. At the end of the day, you have to run the ball in this league to win.”

Reid touts Toub as future NFL head-coaching candidate

Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid has worked with Dave Toub and thinks that the Bears special teams coordinator could one day become an excellent NFL head coach.

“I have always said that on your staff the coach that is probably best prepared to be the head coach is your special teams coach because they have to deal with everyone on the roster plus you guys,” Reid told Chicago reporters during a conference call. “And that’s a tough thing to do.”

Toub worked with Reid at Missouri from 1989-91 and served as assistant special teams coach on Reid’s staff with the Eagles from 2001-03. Toub assisted John Harbaugh, who was hired as head coach of the Baltimore Ravens in 2008 after spending one year coaching the Eagles secondary.

Other individuals who coached special teams in the NFL before accepting head-coaching positions include Mike Ditka, Bill Cowher and Bill Belichick.

“Very seldom does a special teams coach come out of a game and say, ‘Everything went well today,’” Reid said. “It just doesn’t happen. Normally, one phase somewhere, because you’re dealing with so many different phases, wasn’t as good as you wanted it to be.

“I think Dave Toub would be a great head coach down the road. I don’t think he needs to switch anything. I think there are a lot of special teams coaches in this league that would be good head coaches.”

Durable Kreutz expected to play despite back injury

Center Olin Kreutz was held out of practice Wednesday with a back injury, but coach Lovie Smith isn’t too concerned about the 12-year veteran missing Sunday night’s home game against the Eagles.

After all, Kreutz has started 111 straight games, the third longest active streak among NFL centers behind the Broncos’ Casey Wiegmann (137) and the Falcons’ Todd McClure (121).

Since 2001, Kreutz has started 136 of 137 games, missing only a 2002 contest against the Rams after undergoing an appendectomy. In 2004, he had elbow surgery following a loss to the Eagles. After a bye, he returned to action less than two weeks later without missing a game.

“I think you look at history a little bit,” Smith said. “How many games has Olin Kreutz missed? He hasn’t missed a lot. It’s going to take a lot for him to miss. If I was a betting man, I’d say he’d be out there.”

Tight end Desmond Clark (neck) and safety Kevin Payne (back) also did not practice Wednesday. Safety Al Afalava (shoulder) and defensive tackle Tommie Harris (knee) were limited.

Running back Garrett Wolfe (kidney) and linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa (knee) will not play.

Eagles running back Brian Westbrook has been ruled out of the game after suffering two concussions in three weeks. Westbrook was in Pittsburgh Wednesday being examined by two specialists. He’ll be replaced by rookie LeSean McCoy, a second-round draft pick from the University of Pittsburgh.

Cutler would like Aromashodu to get more playing time

After repeatedly praising young wide receiver Devin Aromashodu throughout training camp, Bears quarterback Jay Cutler apparently still feels the same way about the 6-2, 201-pounder.

Cutler said Wednesday that he would like to see Aromashodu more involved in the offense. The third-year pro has played sparingly in three games, making his first catch of the season—a 10-yarder—on the Bears’ final possession in last Thursday night’s 10-6 loss to the 49ers.

“He’s a different type of receiver for us, a little bit taller,” Cutler said. “He’s still got the speed. He just presents a different target for me. We don’t want to overload him. But to get him in there in some different situations—get him up the seams, some back-shoulder stuff—that would be good.”

Offensive coordinator Ron Turner confirmed after practice Wednesday that Aromashodu could see more action Sunday night when the Bears host the Eagles at Soldier Field.

“Yeah, possibly,” Turner said. “We’ve talked about that. Last week we talked about that, getting him in to spell Devin Hester a little bit and getting him in the rotation somewhat, and we could do the same thing this week.”

Aromashodu appreciates the support that he’s received from Cutler. After first clicking in OTA workouts, the two teamed up to produce Cutler's longest completion of the preseason, a 38-yarder in a win over the Giants.

“It gives me a lot of confidence in myself knowing that a quarterback believes in me,” Aromashodu said. “It definitely helps me on game day knowing that if I’m open he’ll give me a chance and throw me the ball."

After failing to establish himself in stints with the Dolphins, Colts, Texans and Redskins, Aromashodu knows just how difficult it is to get an opportunity to contribute for an NFL team.

“It’s tough,” he said. “A lot of things have to go your way. The main thing is you have to keep trying, keep the faith, and keep believing because you’re going to have tough times.”

Cutler working to reduce interceptions in red zone

After throwing two more red-zone interceptions last Thursday night against the 49ers to boost his season total to five, Jay Cutler knows that he has to make better decisions inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.

“We’ve just got to be careful with it,” Cutler said Wednesday at Halas Hall. “If we’ve got to take three points, we’ve got to take three points. If you get down there, you want to at least get away with three.”

Cutler has thrown red-zone interceptions in narrow losses of five points to the Packers, seven points to the Falcons and four points to the 49ers.

“He’s got to understand there’s nothing wrong with throwing it away,” said offensive coordinator Ron Turner. “There’s nothing wrong with getting three points. We have to come away with points.

“Obviously we want touchdowns, and we usually try to give him an opportunity to take a shot in the end zone if we get the right look. If we don’t get the right look, then go to the check-down or throw the ball away if you have to. That’s something that we have to continue to work on with him.” 

There’s no statistic that better explains the Bears’ early-season success and recent struggles than their offense's red-zone efficiency. After scoring eight touchdowns on 11 trips inside-the-20 (72.7 percent) with two turnovers during a three-game winning streak, the Bears have mustered just five TDs on 16 red-zone possessions (31.3 percent) with four turnovers in losing four of their last five games.

While Cutler has thrown seven touchdown passes at home and seven on the road this season, 15 of his league-high 17 interceptions have come in five away games. The Bears quarterback doesn’t, however, feel that there are any concrete reasons to explain the disparity.

“It’s tough to play on the road in this league,” Cutler said. “I think everyone knows that. But I haven’t seen anything from other teams than has really shocked us or made us struggle. Crowd noise really hasn’t been that big of a factor. We go on silent [snap counts] a lot. There’s nothing really that jumps out at me.”

Eleven of Cutler’s interceptions this season have come at night in road losses in Green Bay, Atlanta and San Francisco. But he thinks that’s only a coincidence—and it isn’t concerned about playing under the lights again Sunday night when the Bears (4-5) host the Eagles (5-4) at Soldier Field. 

“That’s how it’s rolled so far,” Cutler said. “I don’t know. It doesn’t really matter to me what time we play. A game is a game. It’s just how it’s gone this year so far.”