Mike Martz explained why Devin Aromashodu had a limited role in Sunday’s 27-20 win over the Cowboys in his Q&A with ESPN Chicago’s Bears blog:
"Q: Why was Devin Aromashodu’s playing time so limited against the Cowboys?A: I don’t know if we need to justify any of those things to anybody. I would just say this and we’ll let this thing go: Devin is a bit of a specialist in that he doesn’t play the slot, which we asked him to do in the opener. He’s not comfortable in there. He’s not familiar with it. All four of our other receivers do play the slot and the outside. Devin just plays the outside. So his opportunities to play are reduced dramatically because of his limited knowledge of what we do at that position. He’s not a slot or a nickel guy. He’s outside. It has nothing to do with Devin’s performance."
The Sun Times’ Sean Jensen hears that it may have been a case of alligator arms in the Week 1 win over the Lions that cost DA time against the ‘Boys:
"Be that as it may, word is Aromashodu short-armed some balls after absorbing some big hits against the Lions and the coaching staff lost confidence in him going over the middle. No one will say it on the record, of course, but sources say this is reason why he was on the sideline vs. the Cowboys."
Something tells me that Jensen is probably a little more on track. My suggestion is that Martz and DA find a way to make this work ASAP! Cutler likes the taller DA and there were clearly instances in the Cowboys game where the Bears could have used DA’s size in the Red Zone.
I know Martz like to have these interchangeable pieces, but maybe DA is a square peg. Go find a square hole and let him fill it!