Olsen present for first voluntary workout
By: erw9z3

If it's possible for important things to come out of voluntary
workouts, this is the best available: Greg Olsen was there. In spite of
Mike Martz's hiring and Olsen's uncertain future, Olsen was at Halas
Hall putting on a brave face.
According to Jeff Dickerson, Martz wasn't
there (only Lovie Smith was in attendance), and Dickerson deems Olsen's
presence "a sign that Olsen has gotten over his initial concerns about
playing in a Mike Martz offense."
Maybe so. Maybe Olsen has moved on. Even if he is upset, give Olsen
credit for being professional about it; still, there are no signs from
Martz (not Smith speaking for Martz) that suggest he has a plan for a
tight end who can't block. While Olsen may be committed to playing for
the Bears this season (he has an understanding of the playbook), it
would still take a major philosophical change for Martz to heavily
incorporate Olsen, That's not going to happen --
and it shouldn't.
Olsen's presence at the workouts is nice, but I don't know that he
has a choice, especially if
earlier reports are true and the best
return the Bears could get in an Olsen trade is a fifth-or sixth-round
pick. If this is true, that's not a whole lot of leverage; Olsen can't
do much more than cooperate and hope that things work out for the best.
In other voluntary workout news:
- Restricted free agents Danieal Manning, Mark Anderson and Jamar Williams were not present for the first day of workouts.
- Alex Brown, who won't be a Bear for much longer, also wasn't there, of course.
- The Bears' newest defensive end, Israel Idonije, reported late after
returning from Nigeria, where he was on his annual C.A.R.E. mission.