The St. Louis Rams thought Pro Bowl left tackle Orlando Pace was washed up, but he says he’s the healthiest he’s been in two years and he may be one of the missing the Bears need to make a run in the NFC Central.

Pace played in 14 games last season, but was nicked up quite a bit and 2007 was bad for Pace as he left in week one of the season with a shoulder injury.  When Steve Spagnuolo came on as head coach, he felt the team needed to go in a different direction and I agree.  The Rams are banking on Alex Barron filling the role of blocking Marc Bulger’s blind side.

However, Pace at 33, is proving to the Bears that he has something left.  In an interview with NFL.com, Pace said, "This is the first time I have been healthy in two years. This offensive line is a talented group, a mixture of youth and older veterans. Training camp is all about getting jelled. You know, this franchise has always been a run-first offense. So, you have to say the run-blocking right now is ahead of the pass-blocking. But we are going to get the pass-blocking right. We have to. We have Jay (Cutler) back there. That’s a strength you have to protect. I understand this team’s history and they understand mine. They are giving me respect and I’m doing the same. I hope I can be a factor for all of our linemen in giving them some examples on how to do the job."

I certainly hope Pace does well.  The Rams are in Chicago on Sunday, December 6th.