LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- The best person at Halas Hall to explain what went wrong with 2008 first-round pick Chris Williams is Bears offensive coordinator Mike Tice. Despite Tice's new title this season, he continues to oversee the club's offensive line and spent the last two-plus years working directly with Williams. The team released the offensive tackle Tuesday.

"Chris is a great guy and we had a great talk after we released him," Tice said. "He's had some bad breaks; he's had some bad injury breaks. We tried to move him inside [to guard] a little bit, and just as things were going last year he got dinged up a little bit and lost some time. Right now, I just think the organization felt it would be good for him to maybe get a fresh start.

"We have some young guys that we like [practice squad offensive linemen James Brown and Cory Brandon] so that's part of the thing. We brought Jonathan [Scott] in, and Jonathan has been a starter in this league; although a backup starter, he's been a starter in this league. It's unfortunate. Chris is a great guy and he did everything we asked him to do. I wish him the best of luck and he knows that."

The Arizona Republic reported that Williams visited the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday. Williams also reportedly visited the Philadelphia Eagles on Wednesday.