If you want, you can throw Martellus Bennett into the same pot of neediness in which Brandon Marshall bubbles. It’s easy to do. If he has an audience, Bennett will say anything that comes to mind, and when it comes to his mind, anything is possible. The crazier the better. It’s one of the reasons the Bears traded him in the offseason.
But there’s a chance they’re going to miss Bennett dearly this season, even though he harbors a few unkind thoughts about quarterback Jay Cutler. As good as Zach Miller was at tight end last season – good enough to get a two-year contract with $3 million guaranteed – his history has been one of injuries. And although the concussion that has him sitting out of training camp now isn’t a torn knee ligament or a blown-out shoulder, it has to make the Bears nervous about the tight end position.
Bennett was a locker-room distraction, his detractors say, and that’s why he had to go. But he’s an excellent blocker, and, with the Bears’ offensive line filled with question marks, a healthy Bennett would have been a big help in protecting the quarterback and making holes for the running backs. (Come to think of it, so would Matt Slauson.)
But Bennett apparently didn’t have the noble character the Bears seek in their players. Just asking: The team thought it could work with defensive lineman Ray McDonald, who had a history of domestic-violence issues, but couldn’t work with Bennett, who was weird and self-centered?
The Bennett brothers were asked about Cutler in the latest ESPN The Magazine.
“Worst quarterback in the NFL,’’ said Michael, a defensive lineman with the Seahawks.
“I’d be open, and he’d throw into double coverage,’’ said Martellus, now with the Patriots.
Clearly, you can’t have somebody on the team saying such crazy, truthful things.
