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.