ChicagoBreakingSports
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By Brad Biggs
BOURBONNAIS -- The start of the regular season is 4 1/2 weeks away, but the Bears believe they have found the right combination for the offensive line.
Mike Martz said the current configuration, with veteran Roberto Garza at left guard and 2009 seventh-round draft pick Lance Louis at right guard, is "probably where it is going to go."
The Bears will get their first test Saturday night when they play at San Diego in the preseason opener.
After juggling different combinations throughout the offseason and the first week of training camp, Garza was flipped to the left side last Friday and Louis was inserted with the starters. Barring a breakdown or injury along the way, that is the way the line should look Sept. 12 at Soldier Field when the Detroit Lions visit for the regular-season opener.
Photo: Mike Martz watches the Bears' line during a recent practice. (Phil Velasquez/Tribune)
"We are going to give them a chance to play together and see how it works out," Martz said in front of the Olivet Nazarene University dining hall. "Each day that group is in the huddle, they've been in the same huddle now for a few days, they've gotten remarkably better because of consistency and they're good players. I can't tell you enough how much work has gone into that group and what a good job (line coach) Mike (Tice) has done with them. That is a physical group. I am very pleased. It's fun to watch them. They're getting better."
Martz praised the work of right tackle Frank Omiyale last week. On Wednesday, he acknowledged Omiyale "is not where he needs to be." But Martz didn't signal that he had any doubt about Omiyale's ability to hold down the job.
"He's so talented and he's got the ability to be an exceptional right tackle, he really does," Martz said. "He needs, just like all young players, just the little nuances and the mental part of playing this game. He'll be fine. He's going to be a real good player. He's just got to fight his way through it and that's why, four or five weeks away from the season, that is what you've got to get done. You've got to work all that out. He is certainly the right guy to be there."
Omiyale, who made 12 starts at left guard last season, had some troubles with false starts in the first week of camp. Those have not been an issue of late. He's playing on the right side for the first time in his career and is adjusting to that. In reserve, the Bears would have a host of options, including veteran Kevin Shaffer, James Marten and seventh-round pick J'Marcus Webb, who has opened some eyes in his work with the second team.
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