The Sports Xchange

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — A state of constant fluctuation within the Chicago Bears roster hasn’t diminished even as the season has progressed.

Defensive line remains one of the most uncertain spots from week to week, and the decision last week to cut defensive lineman Jeremiah Ratliff over a strange incident on Wednesday at Halas Hall left the Bears relying on the waiver wire for help as they went from a bye weekend to preparing for the Minnesota Vikings.

Bears head coach John Fox refused to call the defensive line depth situation worse than any other position, but the only other one that left them as desperate for personnel was safety. And that one appears over with Antrel Rolle now on the practice field after being away three games with an ankle injury.

“Everything’s concerning,” Fox said. “We haven’t been healthy all season. We lost our quarterback for a game and a half. We’ve been through a variety of offensive linemen, a variety of receivers.

“I like where we are right now as far as our depth and the people we have available.”

Still, at other positions the Bears are not bringing in players off the street and immediately putting them to use the way they have to do on the defensive line.

They put Ego Ferguson on injured reserve due to a knee injury Oct. 17, and after Ratliff’s departure they had to bring in Ziggy Hood. The former Jacksonville Jaguar and Pittsburgh Steeler immediately went into a crash course on the defense.

“He’s got a lot of skins on the wall,” Fox said. “He’s played a lot in this league at a high level. I liked him coming out way back when he was a rookie.

“Once healthy – I think he’s pretty far along in that process — I think he’s a front-line defensive lineman.”

It hardly looks like Hood can step right onto the field and contribute. He missed all last season after suffering a foot injury in preseason.

“I didn’t have the luxury of coming in, OTAs, training camp and mandatory workouts to meet the guys,” Hood said. “I’m just thrown into the fire with the guys. I’ve got to build their confidence, build their trust and basically earn it all.”

Hood at least has played in a 3-4 before with Pittsburgh his first five seasons, but it’s been a while because Jacksonville used him in an attacking one-gap front after he’d been in a two-gap front with the Steelers.

“It’s going to be a lot of work because I played on a 4-3 get-up-the-field-type of team and stuff so it’s going to be another working process getting back into that 3-4,” he said.

After putting Ferguson on injured reserve, they had to sign Bruce Gaston off the Packers practice squad and put him on their own 53-man roster. Earlier they had lost defensive end Cornelius Washington and signed Mitch Unrein, a former Denver Bronco who had been with San Diego shortly before being cut.

The Bears hardly seemed the type of team capable of losing defensive linemen. Then again, after allowing 546 yards to Detroit, the most they’d given up since 1982, it doesn’t seem they could get much worse with newer faces on the field.

The front still has veteran Jarvis Jenkins at end, and Will Sutton has returned from an elbow injury to play end or nose tackle. Rookie Eddie Goldman has made progress and figures to take on a bigger role. Goldman has 12 tackles and 1.5 sacks.

“I think Eddie’s done a good job,” Fox said. “I think our personnel staff did a great job in selecting him. I think our staff has done a good job coaching him up.

“I’ve seen steady growth for a young player and I think he’s got a bright future.”

REPORT CARD AFTER 6 GAMES

–PASSING OFFENSE: C-minus. Although Jay Cutler’s interceptions are down, so too is his touchdown pass total. The Bears couldn’t go downfield due to the injuries to virtually their entire wide receiver corps. The hamstring injury to Alshon Jeffery, in particular, limited the attack and let defenses focus more on tight end Martellus Bennett. Jeffery’s eight-catch game against Detroit showed what the attack is capable of once all Cutler’s targets are healthy. Cutler does appear to be more mindful of avoiding big mistakes, although his interceptions proved huge in three of their four losses. Considering all the changes on the offensive line due to injuries to Jermon Bushrod and Will Montgomery, the pass protection has been better than adequate with only 11 teams giving up fewer than the Bears’ 12 sacks.

–RUSHING OFFENSE: B-minus. By ranking fifth in the league with 507 yards, Matt Forte has shown he at least should receive some consideration for a new contract before he can go into free agency after the year. Forte’s all-around skills remain big. The Bears seemed to miss Jacquizz Rodgers following his season-ending injury, particularly in short yardage or near the goal line. Both Jeremy Langford and Ka’Deem Carey need to show they can be depended on in tight rushing areas within the red zone. The lack of a running game in this part of the field is a chief reason why the Bears are 25th in red-zone TD percentage.

–PASS DEFENSE: C-plus. Although they rank sixth in overall pass defense, the Bears haven’t been steady in this regard. Pernell McPhee’s pass rush is the only consistent aspect of the pass defense. Games against Detroit and Arizona, when they experienced difficulty in coverage, made their yardage rank misleading. Missing safety Antrel Rolle for 21/2 games due to injury did not help. Cornerback Alan Ball was out, as well, but they didn’t seem to miss him as much with Tracy Porter available. Rookie safety Adrian Amos has yet to be embarrassed or stand out for a mistake in any way, which can’t be a bad thing.

–RUN DEFENSE: C. Like the pass defense, the Bears’ run defense is again plagued by inconsistency. They allowed 155 rushing yards to a Lions offense struggling on the ground, and 159 to Seattle, without Marshawn Lynch. On the other hand, limiting Oakland (70) and Kansas City (117) indicated better play by their linebackers. The loss of Shea McClellin to a knee injury hurt their run defense in terms of lining up properly, and now losing Jeremiah Ratliff and Ego Ferguson will further press their defensive front.

–SPECIAL TEAMS: C-minus. Special teams snafus in earlier games proved critical. They gave up touchdown returns in successive weeks and are next to last in average yards allowed per return. They also allowed a fake punt for a huge first down that led to points in a loss to Detroit. Marc Mariani and the return teams have been average. Opposing kickers have hurt them by kicking it out of the end zone. As a result, they’re tied for fourth fewest kick returns made. Robbie Gould remains dependable even beyond 50 yards and Pat O’Donnell is averaging more than three yards a punt longer at 46.9 than in his rookie year.

–COACHING: B-minus. A team with this little talent probably couldn’t expect to be better than 3-3 at this point, so 2-4 is not surprising. It almost seemed Fox squeezed two wins out of them. Game plans have been sound in five of the six games and in all but the loss at Seattle they made proper in-game adjustments. The loss to Detroit could be traced back largely to John Fox’s mismanagement of the clock in regulation. He took the same option Bill Belichick did in the Super Bowl and let the clock run down, but he doesn’t have Belichick’s defense so thinking they would stop Detroit from going ahead was giving his team a little too much credit. Still, they have been conservative in games when they needed this, like against Green Bay, and took shots in other games when they had the proper personnel.