BOURBONNAIS – During his 14-year career as a tight end in the NFL, Mike Tice always hated it when coaches sugarcoated their messages to him.

“I didn’t really enjoy playing for the coaches that told me what I wanted to hear,” said Tice, whose career included stints in Seattle, Washington and Minnesota. “I’d rather be told, ‘You can’t run. You’re going to be in there when we’re blocking,’ or whatever, as opposed to some guy telling me some [baloney] that I knew was [baloney].”

Thus explained Tice’s unflinching assessment of his struggling left tackle Monday.