"It has been three weeks since Mike Tice was promoted to offensive coordinator and nearly every day since he has exchanged information with Jay Cutler.

The Bears' new play-caller has hit the ground running in a role new to him even though he briefly was a candidate to become the head coach of the Raiders before the team canceled a Tuesday interview with him and hired Broncos defensive coordinator Dennis Allen.

"I hoped to go through the process," Tice said. "But the timeline just didn't work out.""