Bulger’s silence damages himself and his team
Marc Bulger is doing himself, and his team, a disservice by refusing to talk with reporters — and, by extension, the fans — since being benched by coach Scott Linehan earlier this week. Bulger is a bright, thoughtful guy who could find the right words, however disdainful or diplomatic he might choose to be, to address the situation.
Instead, he’s coming across as a combination of petulant, puerile, bitter and self-centered. And that’s not the Marc Bulger we’ve come to know, the one who has been consistently classy and unafraid to stand up and face the heat, no matter how difficult the situation.
On Thursday, Steven Jackson piped up on his radio show, calling Bulger’s benching the “wrong decision,”and adding, “I’m not the only one (in the locker room) who feels this way.”
If Bulger had spoken up for himself, Jackson might not have been inclined to fan the flames. And now, word is circulating that Bulger no longer wants to play for Linehan, which would be a damning indictment of the head coach.
But, is it true?
We don’t know, because Bulger remains silent. And as a result the situation crumbles even further with an unbeaten opponent coming to town. Not the best atmosphere in which to try to crawl out of an 0-3 hole.
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About 90 minutes after skipping his usual post-practice get-together with reporters Friday, Linehan came down to the media room at Rams Park and took questions. The highlights will be included in our stories on STLtoday.com and in the Post-Dispatch, but here are some excerpts:
*On how he keeps his focus amid the turmoil swirling about the team:
“That’s my job, No. 1. It’s also the kind of way I’ve always been. Things are never going to be always the way you want them. You have to stay focused, you have to focus on the job at hand. The Buffalo game is all that matters to me. . . . You have to maintain that perspective; otherwise you get caught up in things that are just not productive.”
*On how he expects the offense to respond to Trent Green:
“I’m excited to see what it’ll be. I don’t know until we play the game, but I’m excited to see how we play Sunday.”
*On his relationship with Torry Holt:
“I think it’s great. Torry’s been working really hard. I think he’s done a great job of communicating and leading and doing some of the things that we need at this point. We need our leaders to step up, we need guys that have natural leadership skills at a time like this to really step up and so some things.”
All for now . . .
I’m sorry your wrong about Bulger. Seriously what is he gonna say? Everyone knows why Linehan benched him, he’s being made out as a scarpegoat for everything that is wrong w/ this team. Why didn’t Linehan leave Bulger in there make the changes that he made and see what happens on Sunday. By a certain point in the game if thing where not working out then make the change at quarterback. He benched Bulger then made all these changes that says alot right there. I can’t blame Bulger for not wanting to talk to you guys, that’s his right I think. This team was going down long before any of this happened this just blew everything wide open. Linehan made the wrong move and everyone knows it.
Bulger’s qb rating is better than Peyton Mannings, and I don’t see Peyton being benched do you? The colts aren’t playing that great and I don’t see them making dumb stupid moves that Linehan is making. Linehan has hit the panic button and he doesn’t care who he takes down with him.
As for the comments that he made this afternoon someone tell him take off the rosed colored glasses.
Bulger’s silence says all that needs to be said. In any other circumstance, if such controversial sentiments such as no longer wanting to play for your head coach were attributed to you, you would have to step up and vehemently deny them or risk the perception that such sentiments are true.
Bulger is letting Jackson (and maybe Holt behind the scenes) fight his battles for him…and he’s losing the battles, especially those of public perception.
No matter who the head coach is, the tail cannot wag the dog. If you want a trade or release, be a man and speak up. Otherwise, step forward and tell Jackson to shut his pie hole.
bulger deserves to be benched and if you would really be watching his play even when he has time to throw you would agrre …pay attention… open your eyes
This article is lame. No Bulger isn’t damaging himself. He’s smart enough to stay out of the Barnum & Bailey Ram Circus for now. He needs to stay silent until the clown act(Linehan) is over before he steps out. Linehan needs to find some of that silence himself because not only is he blowing any future chance of becoming an NFL headcoach again, he has blown any future chance of becoming a studio analyst(like that would really ever happen) by sounding so stupid when the media quotes him. Holt doesn’t like him and we know it but Linehan thinks they have a decent relationship. Honestly, besides the Rams organization looking weaker and weaker by doing nothing, Linehan is developing a reputation of being a sports equivalent to the dorky former VP Dan Quayle!
BULGER IS PLAYING LIKE JIM(CHRIS) EVERETT USE TO BACK IN THE DAY. HE HAS LOST HIS NERVE AND WHEN YOU MAKE 40 MILLION TO PLAY YOU OWE IT TO YOUR TEAM TO BE A MAN.
This entire team hates Linehan, isn’t that obvious to everyone by now? I won’t get all conspiracy-like and say that the players are deliberately throwing games to make Linehan look bad, but is that really out of the realm of possibility? There’s simply too much talent on this team to be playing this badly, unless it’s a conscious decision.
There isn’t a single player on this team that has one iota of respect for Linehan. You watch. When the Rams get creamed on Sunday by Buffalo (and they will), and Linehan is shoved overboard Monday or Tuesday, you watch. There’s a whole Bye week to let it sink in and re-adjust. If Linehan is canned after Sunday, I guarantee a competitive game against the Redskins, if not an outright victory.
Linehan is the problem. Period.
So Marc Bulger doesn’t speak to the media and that makes him public enemy #1. I was taught if you don’t have nothing nice to say, than don’t say anything at all. How many times have the media and fans alike blasted Jackson for opening his mouth. On top of that if Bulger does speak to the media they will only twist his words anyways.
On Bulger getting bench yeah that was a bad move and he’s definitely the scapegoat now. Now Coach linehan wants to start Avery and do all these different things. Is Marc Bulger struggling yes, but come on he gotten sacked at least 10 times in over 3 games and hit at least 5 more times, his line gets him killed the first to two games but since they did a decent job in week 3 and Bulger struggles in that game he’s the only one to get bench. How about bench Jackson, bench Holt, bench the line, just to single out the QB is a load of crap. Anyone thought if the O-Line had been blocking in the first 2 games maybe the outcome would be different. Besides that they still didn’t opening up any running lanes in week 3 which still made them one dimensional.
We can pontificate about the myriad problems with this team until they win a game or pigs fly (not sure which we’ll see first) but the Rams will never return to elite status unless and until they start drafting well! Great teams start with great drafts!!
Bulger hasn’t looked like a $60 million QB for a long time. I hope he is declining interviews so he can go out and practice. He needs to get back to the simple basics and improve his accuracy. He has been missing some wide open targets and his balls haven’t been placed so that receivers have a chance at YAC. He also has never been good at lofting the deep ball so it arcs over a db. If Bulger went to a team with a superb OL I don’t think he would be a top tier QB. Not the way he throws and his inability to check out of plays when the defense has called the right play. Have you ever noticed that the Rams hardly ever shift once the QB comes to the line and reads the defense. Other teams that are doing well right now have QB’s that do this all the time. (McNabb, Romo, Peyton /Eli, Rogers, Warner, Hasselbeck) I think Bulger is way too silent when he is leading this team on the field. Look at Garcia for TB. If any QB should have a chip it should be him. He lead the Eagles to the playoffs and they dump him. Last year he took TB to playoffs and they bench him. Yes he was pissed but he got over it. I heard him a few days later on Sirus NFL saying he would do anything he could to support the team. Bulger has never been strong enough to act this way.
I DON’T KNOW WHO THE BULGER FANS HAVE BEEN WATCHING,BUT THIS GUY SUCKS,HE MISSES WIDE OPEN RECIEVERS,HE DOESN’T HAVE IT PERIOD,