•There will be fewer substitutions between plays.
Tice still is likely to use multiple personnel groups. But he will be more concerned with a sound play call and execution than keeping defenders guessing about who will be lining up.
Numbers gamesSigning spree
New Bears general manager Phil Emery wasn't sitting on his hands all offseason.
Excluding street free agents but including Bears players whose contracts were up, he signed 14 unrestricted free agents between March 13 and the start of training camp.
Only the Patriots signed more (17), with the Chargers equaling the Bears.
Only five other teams signed 10 or more — the Redskins (13), Bengals (12), Rams (12), Broncos (10) and Vikings (10).
And here is an interesting factoid: The Bears have retained 12 of the 14 they signed. The only ones still not with the team are quarterback Josh McCown, who didn't survive the final cut, and receiver Devin Thomas, who decided to retire in training camp.
Only one team has more UFAs signed from the offseason on their roster — the Chargers with 13. The Patriots, interestingly, cut 10 of their 17.
Front office chessDT swap
The Bears had to choose between former Buccaneers defensive tackles this week: Amobi Okoye and Brian Price.
Given Okoye's production with the Bears last year, and Price's limited production in the preseason and training camp, it really wasn't much of a choice.
But that doesn't mean it was an easy decision. The Bears liked Price's potential, and knew he was a player they could get a lot more out of in 2013 than 2012. He probably needed an offseason to get in ideal shape.
The Bears gave the Bucs a seventh-round pick for Price, and it was not a conditional pick. The Bears won't get it back.
If Okoye had not been released, Price still might be a Bear. But the availability of a player the Bears had tried to re-sign in the offseason was too tempting.
The Bears could have chosen to keep five defensive tackles, but then they would have had to make a decision when Nick Collins comes off the reserved/suspended list this week.
Complicating matters, the team also needed to carry two punters initially because Adam Podlesh is injured. The Bears also are heavy at linebacker (seven) and safety (five), perhaps because of injuries to Brian Urlacher and Chris Conte.
dpompei@tribune.com
Twitter @danpompei
