One would imagine Harry Hiestand might be frustrated with left tackle Charles Leno Jr. After all, he's by far the most penalized player on the Chicago Bears roster through five games. All told he's been targeted with eight flags, putting him on pace to crush his personal record of 13 set in the 2017 season. The offensive line coach is known for his attention to detail and discipline. So seeing a player suffer so many apparent mental lapses has to be maddening.
However, that doesn't seem to be the case. Quite the opposite as it turns out. Hiestand admitted during a recent interview at Halas Hall and Leno was responsible for a couple of the penalties that were called. While one prefers those don't happen, they are hard to avoid. A good chunk of the others though? Let's just say Hiestand, like many others around the NFL, have just about had it with the flag-happy attitude referees have exhibited lately.
“Did you guys watch the (Packers-Lions) game last night?” Hiestand said. “I’m not going to be critical of the officials, but some of (the penalties) are phantoms, honest to god...
...He had a couple that were clearly penalties but (not) as many as the number,” Hiestand said. “It was a point of emphasis for (the officials) to start out the season doing it. Then they were calling them all over the place, then they backed off. I can’t win commenting on that. He’ll be fine.”
Wow. That's about as sharp an answer as one is likely to get out of Hiestand.
Harry Hiestand expects issues to ease as season goes
Based on the latest news from around the league, it sounds like owners are planning to meet about the penalty issues. One can surmise they will insist that refs not be so swift to throw flags for plays they aren't entirely sure about. After all, they want to keep the fans happy and watching games filled with yellow every week does not make them happy. This would explain why Hiestand is relatively confident the problems will go away in the coming weeks regarding Leno.
This is good news for the Bears offense who have often struggled to find a rhythm in games this year. This due in large part to ill-timed penalties that kill drives. If they can get that cleaned up, they should be able to start scoring more points. Something that will be needed as the defense tries to get on without Akiem Hicks for the next two months. Leno's first opportunity to showcase his more disciplined play will be against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.
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