Jeff Dickerson, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Kyle Long on switching positions: It's never too late

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Kyle Long is open to playing any positon, and that includes right tackle, a problem area for the Chicago Bears offensive line throughout the preseason.

“I don’t really have a preference,” Long said on Tuesday. “I’d like to help the team wherever that is, as you said. I’m really sincere when I say that. If they ask me to play receiver, I’d be out there running routes now, practicing. It’s football. It’s not that complicated.”

There is a strong likelihood Long is rested in the preseason finale, but that won’t disqualify him from potentially lining up at right tackle versus Green Bay on Sept. 13.

“It’s never too late. You’ve got what you got and you try to put your best 11 out there,” Bears head coach John Fox.

Voted to a pair of consecutive Pro Bowls, Long started the entire preseason at right guard but did gain valuable experience lining up at both tackle spots in offseason workouts.

“As Fox said, it’s never too late,” Long said. “It’s like, if you’re working on a 300-piece puzzle and you can’t figure out which pieces to go where, it might be the end of the puzzle before you figure out, ‘Oh, there’s that piece for there.’ So we’re not really worried about that. We got a lot of guys who are competing and ready to roll. We’re excited about getting this season started.

“Any time they put me out there [at tackle]; I'm trying my best to focus in on my technique, to get my assignment and alignment correct. It's all about playing football, really, at the end of the day. I'm moving two feet if I'm going to move."

Fox declined to elaborate on how much he plans to play the starters in Thursday’s exhibition finale, but it seems logical to assume that Jordan Mills and Charles Leno will be the offensive tackles.

Veteran left tackle Jermon Bushrod missed Tuesday’s practice due a back problem the Bears will have to monitor the entire season.

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