The Chicago Bears preseason opener will be here before we know it and Wednesday’s practice served as a true tune-up for the game. The pads were back on and the Bears held their second-to-last public camp practice up at Halas Hall and it was a long one.
For just over two hours and 15 minutes, the Bears engaged in a physical practice packed with plenty of 11-on-11 drills. There was some good, some bad, and some concerning as the Bears lost a couple of key players to injuries.
For the second consecutive day, I was able to take in practice from the stands and here is what I observed and learned throughout the session.
1. The injury bug was present right away
After team stretches and individual drills, the Bears went into 1-on-1s and things went south in a hurry. Not only did the receivers struggle with separation and drops, but one prominent player went down with an injury. Chase Claypool cut his second route short, pulling up due to a hamstring injury. He was out the rest of the practice and his status remains up in the air.
The good news is Claypool didn’t show signs of a limp when he was moving around on the sideline and spent much of the practice still on the field. That’s possibly an indication it’s nothing serious but not having him for such an involved practice was a blow. The Bears also lost Equanimeous St. Brown later on after he came up hobbling following a catch he made during 7-on-7s. St. Brown was having a great practice prior to that injury.
2. The starting tackles looked solid overall
With the full team in pads again, it was a prime opportunity to evaluate the offensive and defensive lines and there was a lot to learn. The first being that starting tackles Braxton Jones and Darnell Wright were both solid and dependable in team drills.
Jones continues to show that he’s growing from his rookie season. He did well in pass protection overall, holding up well against guys like Dominique Robinson in team drills and even Yannick Ngakoue in 1-on-1s (as referenced by Chicago Football Connection who was also in attendance).
For Wright, he had some more ups and downs (more on that later) but when it came to pass protection, he was able to give Justin Fields more than enough time. He continues to get his feet under him and shows those flashes of quickness coming out of his stance. No matter who he was blocking, he was able to either stonewall his defender or push him far enough outside the quarterback to have room to maneuver in the pocket. From when I first saw him in camp nearly two weeks ago to now, he’s shown considerable improvement.
3. The interior of the offensive line struggled
While the tackles were good, the rest of the line had trouble handling the pressure. The guards and centers across the board had issues keeping the interior of the defensive line at bay. Part of that was due to injuries, though.
Starting guard Nate Davis was once again out after returning briefly during yesterday’s practice and Lucas Patrick wasn’t available either. That meant Ja’Tyre Carter was the starting right guard and he had a tough go of things. Players like Andrew Billings and Justin Jones routinely got past him but it wasn’t just Carter. Center Cody Whitehair and left guard Teven Jenkins both had their moments as well. The middle was clogged more often than not.
That trickled down from the first team to the second and third-string. Gervon Dexter gave the reserves issues as well, coming through the middle and batting a ball down from P.J. Walker (which also could have been a sack). Perhaps things will improve when Davis can participate again but guys were routinely blowing past the interior offensive linemen.
4. Zacch Pickens was unimpressive
Prior to practice, I was asked by @DJMooreismyDad about Zacch Pickens and how he was looking today. I made it a point to zero in on him during one of the 11-on-11 series and unfortunately, I was unimpressed with his performance.
Pickens was playing with the third-string defense near the end of practice during the two-minute drill. I watched what might have been 6-8 plays in a row focusing solely on him. What I saw was a player who couldn’t budge the offensive lineman and was noticeably the defensive lineman who was pushed back the furthest. He may have been able to generate a holding call at one point, but Pickens stood out for the wrong reasons.
It should be noted the Bears are trying Pickens at the nose tackle position instead of the three-technique and that could have played into the lack of pressure. But it would seem as if Pickens still has a long way to go in his development.
5. False starts were a big problem
Remember how I said Wright was solid when it came to protection? That only happened when he wasn’t jumping the gun on a false start. The Bears had issues in this area on Wednesday, drawing a number of flags for false starts. Wright may have been responsible for half of them and two came in the span of three plays.
It’s those mistakes that cannot happen come game time. Interceptions, fumbles, sacks, all of those are bound to happen. The defense is trying to make a play, too. The mental mistakes like not knowing when the snap is coming are the self-inflicted issues though. Hopefully this is Wright and the other offensive linemen learning the cadences so these penalties don’t happen on Sundays.
6. D.J. Moore and Darnell Mooney were impressive
Let’s get back to some positives from the practice and there were quite a few, starting with D.J. Moore. The Bears top wide receiver continues to impress and he’s a big reason the offense is moving the ball downfield in team drills.
During the first stretch of 11-on-11s, Fields threw a deep ball down the left sideline and Moore went up and came down with the reception despite good coverage. Later on, Fields delivered another ball to Moore off his back foot that was completed. The throw was basically a hospital ball and Fields trusts Moore to go and get those no matter what. It’s par for the course with the receiver, but Darnell Mooney is finally back up to speed and made plays of his own.
On another deep pattern, Fields rolled to his right and saw Mooney flying across the field from the left to the right. Fields loaded up and delivered a laser to Mooney, who made a great catch and held onto the ball going to the ground despite good coverage. The play might have been Fields’ best throw of the day. It’s great to see Mooney not only back and healthy, but running those deep routes again.
7. The backups stood out in a big way
Much of the focus was obviously on the starting offense and defense, but certain reserve players had themselves a great practice. Running back Trestan Ebner, wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown, and linebacker Micah Baskerville all had multiple plays that stood out.
Beginning with Ebner, the second-year back had a couple of big plays both running and catching the ball. Ebner took a carry and dashed through the defense for a 70-yard score, leaving everyone in his dust. He also gathered a pass from Walker on an out route and had plenty of room to work with for a big gain. Ebner is fighting for a roster spot and definitely made his case on Wednesday.
St. Brown also had a nice day on offense prior to his injury. The veteran receiver took advantage of Claypool’s missed reps and made big catches in traffic, absorbing blows from defenders in the process. Hopefully his injury isn’t anything severe.
The player of the day, however, has to be Baskerville. The undrafted free agent found a way to snag not one, but two interceptions by keeping his head on a swivel. First, he snagged a pass that went off tight end Stephen Carlson’s hands in the end zone for the pick. Later on, he was alert when a ball went off running back Roschon Johnson’s hands and right into his own. He also showed up in run defense at certain points.
Baskerville made impactful turnovers with the reserves and deserves the game ball for his performance.
8. Velus Jones might be on thin ice
The preseason hasn’t even begun but you can hear the clock ticking on wide receiver Velus Jones’ opportunities. Jones once again struggled with drops on offense, one of which was inexplicable given the route and the ball placement. Fields delivered an accurate 10-yard pass to Jones in the middle of the defense that was dropped. Later on, he had another bad drop from Walker. Both times, the defenders were jawing at Jones for the miscues and they’re adding up as of late.
To make matters worse for the young receiver, Dante Pettis is officially coming back after the team took him off the Non-Football Injury (NFI) list after practice. That puts his return specialist job in jeopardy as Pettis handled those duties last year.
It’s going to be an important preseason for Jones but he’s not doing himself any favors with these drops in camp. If he can’t find a place on offense and loses out on a return specialist role on special teams, he doesn’t fit in the team’s plans.
9. Andrew Janocko is very involved as the QB coach
You normally don’t have many takeaways from individual quarterback drills. After all, they’re only throwing into a net and going through their footwork. There isn’t too much to see. But after watching practice with my co-host of the Bear Down Chicago Podcast Ryan Dengel, I have a new appreciation for quarterback coach Andrew Janocko.
Dengel pointed out Janocko was very involved in the drills, doing his best to distract and throw his players off their game. He had an animated approach that included running, screaming, and shuffling in front of the players. He was then chatting and coaching them up.
It may not seem like much, but if offensive coordinator Luke Getsy excels this season and ultimately moves onto a head coaching position, Janocko would be an obvious successor. It’s interesting to note what his approach is like even during individual drills. Regardless of if it works or not, Janocko isn’t just standing idly by when coaching up his quarterbacks.
10. A head-scratching finish to the two-minute drill
Is it silly to pick apart the play calling in a training camp two-minute drill? Possibly, but I’m going to do it anyway because it was a headscratcher. During the drill, the first-team offense was driving down the field with time ticking off the clock. For the most part, Fields was smart with his throws, finding Khalil Herbert on a couple check downs to move the ball. After an ill-advised throw to Moore with three defenders surrounding him in the endzone that fell incomplete, it was fourth down with only 4.5 seconds left on the clock.
In a game, the Bears might have kicked a field goal depending on the situation, but given they were driving towards the building with no goal post, they went for the touchdown. The play call they had was suspect, though. 15 yards away from the end zone, Fields gets the pass and immediately throws it to Herbert on a screen. Herbert only gains a few yards and the clock runs out.
Again, it’s only practice and surely they’re trying different things out on offense. But running a screen pass on fourth down with just seconds left and about 15 yards to go until they hit the end zone doesn’t feel great. The hope is Getsy doesn’t go back to it if the same situation arises in a game.
11. Justin Fields took what the defense gave him
Fields improved upon the deep ball on Wednesday after Tuesday’s practice left much to be desired, but that wasn’t the biggest takeaway from his performance. It was that more often than not, he took what the defense was giving him.
During 11-on-11s, Fields didn’t make many bad throws. The worst was the throw alluded to earlier involving Moore. Instead, he dinked and dunked his way down the field at certain points and made the easy throws to move the chains. That’s something Fields didn’t show enough of last year but it’s a sign he’s growing more comfortable in Getsy’s offense. Fields would get the snap, drop back quickly, and fire the ball in less than three seconds. He also ran more than he had in previous practices, indicating this practice was more at game speed than other ones.
7-on-7s provided much of the same. Fields didn’t force the ball and delivered accurate strikes to both the receivers and running backs. It was a good balance and it feels as if the quarterback has a strong grasp on running the offense. We’ll see if that translates come Week 1.
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