The Bears offensive line performed exceptionally well in Monday night's win over the Packers and will look to build on that strong outing Sunday against the Lions.
It won't be easy, though, against a Detroit defensive line that is led by tackles Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley.
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| Roberto Garza and Kyle Long team up to block the Lions' Ndamukong Suh Sept. 29 in Detroit. |
Suh is the star of the group. In a Week 4 win over the Bears in Detroit, the powerful 6-4, 307-pounder recorded two sacks, two tackles-for-loss, two quarterback hits and a forced fumble.
While rookie right guard Kyle Long struggled at times against Suh, Bears offensive coordinator Aaron Kromer is convinced that the first-round pick is better equipped for the challenge the second time around.
"He can do better," Kromer said. "He had some solid blocks one-on-one with him, but then he had some where his technique was off from the beginning. With each lineman we tell them, 'You can control what you can control from the start: Your set, your stance, your hands, your eyes.' Then from there we'll react and respond from how we work.
"But I think he has a better handle now and he'll have a better handle by Week 16 for what exactly he does control and how he changes up during the game so he's not doing the same things when he's one-on-one with someone."
While pleased with Long's progress, Kromer feels the rookie still has a long way to go.
"Everything that Kyle Long does in a game that you haven't seen is brand new," Kromer said. "He hasn't done it before. It's a growing process for Kyle in every practice, every day, every drill.
"You get so much information that you forget what you knew before and you forget Day 1. So it's a constant process. Anytime you're starting a rookie—it doesn't matter who it is—it's all new to him. Every situation's new and I think he's handled most of them well."
