Here is the original article that nfl.com is paraphrasing:
Carimi adviser: Bears lineman betting on himself
Ex-Pro Bowler Bentley says Carimi is taking calculated risk in staying away, working out on his own
LeCharles Bentley, the former Pro Bowl lineman, admits Gabe Carimi is taking a gamble as he works to get his career back on track with the Bears.
But Bentley, speaking from Scottsdale, Ariz., where he runs O-Line Performance Academy, is adamant Carimi is taking a worthwhile risk as he misses the team's fifth day of 10 voluntary organized team activities Tuesday at Halas Hall.
"Any time a player opts to make an investment in himself that is outside the scope of what the team expects, that's a gamble," said Bentley, a Pro Bowl performer for the Saints before a knee injury in 2006 with the Browns ended his career. "That's sometimes a risk that players have to be willing to take. Sometimes, when guys are in a situation like Gabe, maybe the player feels comfortable betting on himself.
"Now, where it gets a little sketchy, you can't go back and be OK. You can't go back and be good. You've got to go back and be damn good. That's where the pressure falls back onto the player and, to be quite frank, that is where it belongs. Let these guys stand up and man up for themselves. These are their careers. If Gabe Carimi is going to be labeled as a bust, let this man do it on his own terms."
Carimi trained with Bentley in 2011 before the Senior Bowl and before the Bears selected him 29th overall in the first round. They got back together in January after Carimi took one week off to get organized after a disappointing 2012 season in which he made 11 starts at right tackle and three at right guard. Carimi attended a voluntary minicamp last month and general manager Phil Emery told SiriusXM NFL Radio the player will be welcomed back with "open arms" when he returns.
Where Carimi fits on the roster for coach Marc Trestman and his staff remains unknown. He worked primarily with the second team at right guard in April, and Trestman said he views him primarily as a right guard. Carimi was not 100 percent last season after a December 2011 surgery to prevent his right kneecap from dislocating.
Carimi has reduced his work with Bentley from six days a week to five, but he's still the first man in the building with Bentley at 7 a.m.
"Gabe is, I think, exactly where he needs to be in terms of the mental state," Bentley said. "There are so many different layers to this thing. He is that that point, 'I want to fight. I want to play and I want to show people that I can be a first-round talent that I was drafted as. I'm not going to leave my career as a bust.' He's hungry to prove people wrong and has taken time and work for him to get to this point mentally and physically. He is light years from where he was."
The Bears want to push first-round draft pick Kyle Long at right guard and the right tackle battle is between J'Marcus Webb and Jonathan Scott. Reality is Carimi could be in a fight to make the roster, but the Bears want him to be around because his 2013 salary of $1,016,458 is fully guaranteed whether he is on the roster or not.
"Gabe can't go back to Chicago and be the player he was" before he was injured, Bentley said. "If he (does), he's failed and I've failed him, to be quite honest, and we've failed one another because as I tell Gabe, we're married. You have to go back and you have to be better than you've ever been in your life. Now, he's on that track. We'll see how it all plays out. As of today, he's hit every benchmark he's needed to hit in order for me to tell you that he is clearly on the track to becoming a better player from a physical standpoint and a mental standpoint.
"I honestly believe he is going to get a fair shot to showcase himself. It is a business and you never know how things are going to work out. At some point, Gabe is going to get an opportunity in the NFL to play for somebody and I believe somebody is going to get a good offensive lineman. I would love for it to be redemption in Chicago for him. But we all know how this thing goes. He's not going to quit."
bmbiggs@tribune.com
Twitter @BradBiggs
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