BENNETT WANTS MORE PASSES TO COME HIS WAY
Bennett complaining Bears aren’t using him; numbers don’t add up
Martellus Bennett repeated that he wasn’t trying to be a bad employee. Then he continued talking about his dissatisfaction with his role in the Bears’ offense.
He said Thursday there’s nothing he can do about the perception he’s under-used in the passing game, not even bringing it up to quarterback Jay Cutler in the huddle.
‘‘I just kind of keep my head down and go to work,’’ he said. ‘‘Because when you say something, you become the a--hole, even if it’s a valid point. So I just avoid drama.’’ So it’s not worth it to be difficult? ‘‘Not in this league,’’ he said. ‘‘They don’t play the a--holes.’’
Bennett’s wrong about his final point and, statistically, about his first one, too. Only the New England Patriots’ Rob Gronkowski and the Carolina Panthers’ Greg Olsen have more targets among tight ends than Bennett’s 58 — which is the same number Bennett had at this time last year. There’s a dropoff in production compared with those other two, though. Bennett’s 324 receiving yards are almost half that of Gronkowski, who leads all tight ends. Bennett’s four drops, according to Pro Football Focus, are tied for second-most among tight ends and one behind leader Garrett Graham of the Houston Texans.
Bennett is likely sulking about his season-low three catches on a season-low five targets Sunday.
‘‘At some point, they’ve gotta come my way,’’ he said. ‘‘But until they do, there’s nothing I can do about it.’’
Bennett takes pride in both blocking and receiving. He said many of the NFL’s most high-profile tight ends — he named the Seattle Seahawks’ Jimmy Graham, the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Julius Thomas and the San Diego Chargers’ Antonio Gates, whom the Bears will see Monday — don’t do both.
‘‘Jimmy can’t block worth [crap],’’ Bennett said. ‘‘They get a lot of credit, a lot of love, but Julius doesn’t block nobody, Gates doesn’t really block anybody, but they do a great job in the passing game. It all depends on the system you’re in.’’
Bennett said he has to ‘‘kick ass at the line of scrimmage and kick ass down the field.’’ He did that last season, setting career highs with 90 catches, 916 receiving yards and six touchdowns to earn his first Pro Bowl bid. He then stayed away from volunteer offseason activities at Halas Hall while he stumped, in vain, for a new contract.
Chargers coach Mike McCoy praised Bennett for being a good blocker and explosive in the passing game — ‘‘not only all the short, quick, underneath things, but he can stretch the field and make the big plays.’’
Bennett admires the chemistry his friend Gates — who’s 10 touchdowns from tying Tony Gonzalez for the tight end career record with 111 — has with Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers.
‘‘The way he runs his routes — and Philip kind of knows those things — he has a lot of freedom within the offense,’’ Bennett said. ‘‘Most times, I don’t really have that much freedom like he has, to get open like that.’’
Asked if he was jealous, Bennett smiled.
‘‘He’s their No. 1 target, and I’m like third, fourth,’’ Bennett said. ‘‘So that’s been my whole career. Even last year, year before that. But I still make plays.’’
The return of wide receiver Alshon Jeffery, he said, didn’t change the way he was defended.
‘‘They pay attention to me still,’’ he said. ‘‘I don’t think it’s anything the other team is doing. I don’t feel like anyone in the NFL can hold me.’’
What went unsaid: a hint that his own team is all that can slow his production.
‘‘At this point,’’ he said, ‘‘I’ll just be a real good employee.’’