LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- If the Chicago Bears ultimately decide to pull the plug on J'Marcus Webb at left tackle, they could go one of two ways.
Chris Williams spent the entire offseason and preseason competing with Webb for the starting left tackle job and could be the next man up if Webb continues to falter, as he did in Week 2 against the Green Bay Packers. Of Williams' 38 career starts, 18 have been at tackle (11 RT, 7 LT), but only two of those tackle starts have occurred since the Bears hired Mike Tice prior to the 2010 season.
Another option is newcomer Jonathan Scott, who has been practicing at both tackle spots since the Bears signed him on Sept. 10. Before arriving in Chicago, Scott spent time in Detroit, Buffalo and Pittsburgh, starting 28 games over the past six years. Scott suffered a knee injury this summer at Lions camp, landing him on their injured reserve, but he claims to be completely healthy.
Despite being on the team for barely over a week, Scott says he is ready to play in a game if necessary.
"Only time will tell, but I'm more than willing to get out there now," Scott said. "I've been habitually studying the game and studying the playbook and just getting prepared for any given Sunday. I feel that given a little time I'll be more than ready to perform."
However, Scott said there is no reason to overreact to Webb's early season struggles considering every NFL offensive lineman goes through a certain amount of ups and downs.
"That's the job description for an offensive lineman," Scott. "We're not looked highly upon. We're not praised, but we're definitely the guys who get blamed. I can relate to any offensive lineman that has a tough game because I know what it takes to prepare for that game. At the same time, there are some tackles, guards and centers that have a rough game, but the team wins and it never gets brought out. You only talk about it when somebody loses. It's just part of the game. Me personally, I just blow it off, because a lot of people don't even know what it takes to play at this level."