Mike Martz doesn't believe Bears need a big receiver

Mike Martz told the Associated Press that “size doesn’t make any difference” in his offense.

“It makes absolutely no difference,” the Bears offensive coordinator told the Associated Press. “With Matt [Forte] as a runner and our ability to run the ball, we get a lot of one-on-one coverage, and you have to have receivers that can beat corners one on one. And generally, the guys that can change direction and run fast – those are the kinds of guys that you’re looking for.

“If he’s a big guy that can do all that, that’s a rare find. A lot of times, those guys are more 5-10 guys.”

Free agent receiver Plaxico Burress told ESPN 1000 earlier in the week that the Bears were among his top three NFL destinations. But, sources have indicated the Bears don’t have a strong interest in him. Burress is 6 foot 5 and has been a tremendously productive player throughout his career. But the last NFL game he’s played in was in November 2008.

Martz said he would also like to get the ball more to Devin Hester and that emphasis wouldn’t adversely affect the receiver’s contributions on special teams.

“We don’t want to do anything to diminish that,” Martz said.

As for the offensive line, Martz said he assumes center Olin Kreutz will re-sign and that rookie Gabe Carimi can fit in quick. He admitted to the Associated Press that the offensive line was “the biggest issue.” But he said Roberto Garza helped the unit run the ball better.

Finally, Martz told the Associated Press that his offense only needed one day to prepare for the preseason opener against the St. Louis Rams.

“You don’t do game plans for those games, anyway,” he said. “It’s not like a regular-season game at all. There’s not a whole lot of game preparation. You look at personnel, things of that nature, and clean things up execution-wise. The preparation for preseason games, particularly the first one, is not real hard.”