BOURBONNAIS, Ill. — New Bears quarterback Jay Cutler may already have a go-to guy in Chicago who isn’t speedy wideout Devin Hester or workhouse running back Matt Forte.

It’s 6-foot-5 tight end Greg Olsen.
“You don’t find it very often with a guy with that kind of motor and as big as he is, just the way he adjusts to balls,” Cutler said Wednesday. “A lot of guys that big are kind of stiff and they can’t really do some of the things he can. He’s a huge target and we have to use him the right way.”
With training camp in its early stages, it has already become routine for Cutler to find Olsen in the passing game, so much so that the third-year tight end out of Miami has been elevated to the first string ahead of 11-year veteran Desmond Clark. The move up the depth chart was no shock to Olsen or Clark.
“It’s really just a formality,” said Olsen, who made 54 catches last season after a 39-catch rookie year in 2007. “We still pride ourselves on being two guys who both can contribute a ton and really have a big role in the offense.”
The Bears completed 95 passes to the two tight ends last season, only 31 fewer than to their wide receivers. With inexperienced wide receivers and Cutler learning the playbook from scratch, they are likely to do much the same this season.
Practices are bearing this out. When offensive coordinator Ron Turner was asked what the best play of camp so far had been, he cited Olsen’s diving catch as he went out of bounds on a deep fade route with Brian Urlacher and Danieal Manning glued to him in tight coverage.
Meanwhile, Olsen’s connection with Cutler continues to build. The two have become good friends off the field since Cutler arrived from the Denver Broncos in the spring.
“He was ready to take the next step even without Jay,” Turner said. “Getting Jay in here, they’ve developed already a good chemistry. He has a lot of confidence in him, Jay does in Greg. I think (Olsen) is primed to have a really good year.”
Cutler said the two are beginning to get a good idea of how each other thinks as they talk in the huddle and on the sidelines.
“I think it’s important to have a pretty good rapport with each other especially on the field,” Olsen said. “I think we have a good feel for each other and what each other likes to do. A lot of that has to do with continuing to come out every day and work together and talk and communicate and that’s just what we’ve done.”
Clark had started every Bears game the last four seasons and has missed only four starts in six seasons with the team. He still has a role because the Bears’ offense often uses two tight ends.
“It’s just a situation where I’m not a 25-, 26- or 27-year-old in this game,” the 32-year-old Clark said. “The situation is what it is, so I’ve just got to make the best of it. I don’t want to try to sit here and act like I want to go to another team or something like that, so I just do what I have to do and they pay me well to keep playing.”
Clark believes Olsen has become an all-around player who blocks well in the running game and is more than just a target for the quarterback.
“One thing that you have to appreciate about Greg is he’s a guy that came into the NFL probably with only one glaring weakness and for the last three years that’s primarily what he’s been working at getting better at — trying to improve his strength and trying to work on his footwork and things like that so he can be a complete tight end,” Clark said. “And when you see a guy who has as much talent as he does working on the weaknesses, you just know there’s going to come a day — and it’s probably going to come very soon this year — where he’s the complete package.”
Olsen said his education hasn’t ended.
“I have put a lot of time into the technique and fundamental aspect of it and I think the results this training camp have been pretty good,” he said. “I just have to continue to work at it every day and come out here and just be consistent at it.”