Tag: bears training camp

Bears DT Akiem Hicks returned to practice Thursday

The Bears received some good news as DT Akiem Hicks returned to the practice field on Thursday two weeks after suffering a quad injury.

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The Chicago Bears received some good news as defensive tackle Akiem Hicks returned to the practice field on Thursday. Hicks had missed the last two weeks after injuring his quadriceps.

While the practice was short and light, it was encouraging to hear that Hicks made his return just over a week out from the season opener against the Detroit Lions. It was a good sign that Hicks should be ready to go for Week 1.

‘‘Just preparing for football, man,’’ Hicks said, via the Sun-Times. ‘‘You know, this time of year and this situation that we’ve been in have been taxing on everyone.

‘‘The biggest battle is making sure that you remember what you’re focused on or what you’re pushing toward, and that’s coming out Week 1 and playing good football.’’

The Bears defense, while not unimpressive, struggled without Hicks last season after he went down with an elbow injury in Week 5. Hicks’ return this season is more important than ever, especially as the Bears will be without nose tackle Eddie Goldman, who opted out of the season due to COVID-19 concerns.

‘‘Anytime you see [No.] 96 out there, that’s a good thing,’’ coach Matt Nagy said of Hicks’ return to practice. ‘‘We like that; we know opposing offenses don’t. We want to make sure we have him out there, so it was good.’’

Despite the challenges that have come with this shortened offseason, Hicks feels comfortable as the defense is entering its second season under defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano.

‘I would say this: Everybody’s a little bit more comfortable,’’ Hicks said. ‘‘We have some things that we’ve been familiar with over the past year, so anytime that you get that continuity from your [coordinator], guys just feel more comfortable.

‘‘So I think that going into this season, we’re going to be just a little bit more sharp on some of the things that we’ve tried to install and do over here for the past couple of years.’’

Check out the new Bears Wire Podcast!

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Check out the new Bears Wire Podcast!

In the debut of the new Bears Wire Podcast, we addressed the QB battle with Mitchell Trubisky and Nick Foles and more.

The NFL Wire Network is rolling out new podcast series this week, including the brand new Bears Wire podcast.

The podcast will be hosted by Ryan O’Leary (@RyanOLearySMG) and I’ll join him each week to break down the latest Bears news.

The show will be Bears-focused but will also feature tips on NFL picks and fantasy football news.

With the 2020 season just around the corner, we addressed the quarterback battle with Mitchell Trubisky and Nick Foles, the cornerback situation opposite Kyle Fuller, tight ends Jimmy Graham and Cole Kmet and more.

You can listen to the first episode below:

Starting next week, you can catch a new episode every Thursday on Apple Podcasts or your podcast service of choice (including right here at the top of the page.)

Next week’s episode will delve into the Bears’ season opener against the Lions.

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ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky believes Mitchell Trubisky will start Week 1, hints at fundamentals

Former Lions QB and ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky believes Mitchell Trubisky will be the Bears starting quarterback when the season starts.

The Chicago Bears and head coach Matt Nagy still haven’t announced who will be their starting quarterback between Nick Foles and Mitchell Trubisky as the team gets ready to face the Detroit Lions a week from Sunday.

Former Lions quarterback and current ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky believes Trubisky will be the Bears starting quarterback when the season starts. On NFL Live, Orlovsky hinted that the 26-year old needs to be consistent with his fundamentals.

Matt Nagy wants to hold off from making a decision as long as he can possibly can, but the Week 1 matchup against the Lions is getting closer.

Trubisky is a perfect 3-0 against the Lions with a 132.4 passer rating. But if he is able to win the job over Foles, this could be his last shot in Chicago.

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Rookie OLB Ledarius Mack eager to prove himself with Bears

Bears UDFA Ledarius Mack understands that he’s under the watchful eyes of not just coaches but his older brother Khalil.

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The Chicago Bears have one of the most feared defensive players in the NFL in three-time All-Pro Khalil Mack. One who requires special attention and game planning. Sometimes, it can feel like there are two of him on the field. Now, there are actually two Macks on Chicago’s roster.

But Ledarius Mack isn’t at his big brother Khalil’s level yet. For now, he faces the battle of winning a roster spot as an undrafted rookie out of the University of Buffalo.

Ledarius understands that he’s under the watchful eyes of not just coaches but his older brother Khalil, as well. Especially with the two brothers playing the same position.

“He’s gonna be extra hard on me,” Ledarius said. “So I feel like, with practice, I’ve got to be intentional, especially with my technique and fundamentals, very big on that. … He wants to see me practice with good intentions, good habits and that’s pretty much it from that standpoint.

“And practicing with him and seeing him do some things is like, dang, like wow, you see it up close and it’s always fun to see it up close, how he does things, and how he moves and can get around guys. So it’s definitely eye-opening a little bit.”

Ledarius has followed in his older brother’s footsteps. He didn’t play much football in high school before playing pass rusher at Buffalo. They even wore the same number: 52. Also like his big bro, Ledarius is led by a winning mindset.

“All I see in his eyes is he wants to win,” he said. “That’s my mindset as well. Every day I come out here, and my mindset is to win my individual battles. He just wants to win, and so does everybody here. That’s just the mindset, and that’s how we take every day: approach every day with a winning mindset.”

Big brother Khalil has liked what he’s seen so far in training camp. But whether that’s enough to garner a roster spot on a loaded defense, it doesn’t seem likely. Although Ledarius stands a good chance to earn a spot on Chicago’s practice squad so he can keep developing.

“He’s jumping out on film,” Khalil said. “Very explosive. Very explosive. You could tell that he’s talented.

“The thing that’s gonna affect that decision, it’s gonna come down to special teams, how he’ll be used out there or whatever that may be. But all in all, from what I’ve seen, I’m proud of him.

“He likes to make plays and I can only think it’s got something to do with bloodline. I’m not gonna take any credit.”

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WR Anthony Miller has had one of the best training camps with Bears

After a slow start to camp, Bears WR Anthony Miller has put together one of the best training camp performances on the entire team.

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The Chicago Bears are expecting big things from third-year receiver Anthony Miller in 2020. So it’s certainly encouraging that, after a slow start to camp, that Miller has put together one of the best training camp performances on the entire team.

“He started out a little bit slow the beginning of training camp,” coach Matt Nagy said Wednesday. “He might have had the best training camp of a lot of players on this team. He had an amazing training camp.”

With Miller, it’s not a question of whether he can put together some impressive performances. It’s whether he can get off to a fast start at the beginning of the season, which is something that took some time for the second-round pick last season.

Last year, Miller was coming off shoulder surgery and an impressive rookie campaign. But he struggled throughout training camp, and he didn’t earn a role in this offense until the middle of the season.

But when he did get going, he appeared unstoppable. Miller had a five-game stretch from Weeks 11-15, where he totaled 33 receptions for 431 yards and two touchdowns. He finished the year with 52 receptions for 656 yards and two scores.

While this year he had some struggles at the start of camp, it wasn’t the same story.

“He was making some mental errors early on [in camp],” Nagy said. “But the best part about Anthony is that when you correct him, he doesn’t make that same mistake twice. And that kid is playing at 110 percent on every single play. For us, just to have that, that’s a credit to him. He took the challenge and he really had an awesome camp.”

With the departure of Taylor Gabriel, Miller is taking the lead as the Bears’ No. 2 receiver behind Allen Robinson. Miller has all of the tools he needs to succeed in this league, and he’s proven he have some big games and make some big-time catches.

Miller believes that he’s poised for a breakout season in Chicago, and the Bears are counting on that.

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Bears waive six players ahead of Saturday’s roster deadline

Chicago released six players on Thursday morning to trim the roster to 74 ahead of the Sept. 5 53-man roster deadline.

With less than two weeks until the Chicago Bears open the regular season against the Detroit Lions, there are some roster cuts that need to be made. The Bears need to trim the roster from 80 to 53 players by Sept. 5, and they’ve already started making roster moves.

Chicago released six players on Thursday morning to trim the roster to 74. They waived running back Napoleon Maxwell, receivers Alex Wesley and Ahmad Wagner, offensive lineman Corey Levin, defensive lineman Lee Autry and linebacker Keandre Jones.

There’s a good chance some of these players could wind up on Chicago’s practice squad, which will have 16 available spots should they clear waivers. The Bears still need to cut 21 players by Saturday’s deadline.

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Bears’ QB competition is over. Now, Matt Nagy has a decision to make.

The Bears’ QB competition came to an end on Wednesday, and now Matt Nagy has a decision to make between Mitchell Trubisky and Nick Foles.

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The Chicago Bears are still without a starting quarterback with less than two weeks until the season opener against the Detroit Lions. The hope was that there would be a definitive winner between Mitchell Trubisky or Nick Foles. But that simply wasn’t the case.

Now that the Bears quarterback competition is officially in the books — with only a walkthrough left Thursday before off days on Friday and Saturday — Bears head coach Matt Nagy has an important decision to make.

“It is not easy. It’s not clear-cut,” Nagy said Wednesday. “The way that we look at it as a coaching staff is that sometimes people will say, ‘Well, if you have two quarterbacks, that means you don’t have any.’ But we know what we have in these guys. We feel really good about both of them, and being as brutally honest as I could be, it’s difficult.”

It’s difficult because neither Trubisky or Foles has managed to separate himself in the competition. Both have had decent camps but nothing to write home about. Still, a winner must be decided.

Nagy and his coaching staff will take these next few days to examine every rep that Trubisky and Foles have had during camp and determine the starting quarterback. The announcement is expected to come next week, whether that’s Monday or Wednesday.

“Now what we can do as an offensive coaching staff is we can pull back, we get through [Thursday] and we’ll basically take every clip of every snap of both quarterbacks,” Nagy said. “We are going to get in a room and we are going to sit down and we are going to watch all of these clips.

“And we’re not just going to see, ‘Was it complete or was it incomplete?’ We’re going to dig really hard into the ‘why,’ and then we’re going to look at situational football. And then we’re going to look at what’s around him: ‘Is it 1 v. 2, 2 v. 1?’ And we’re going to just shut the door, we’re going to have our own opinions and then ultimately, in the end, we’re going to make a decision.”

With no organized team activities or preseason reps to go off, this competition hasn’t been ideal. But while there’s been a limited set of reps to evaluate, Nagy believes there’s been enough reps to make a decision.

“We now have a library of film that we can evaluate and critique and judge and make decisions,” he said. “That’s what we’re going to do. And then we’re going to make that decision, we’re going to move forward. Someone’s going to get the job and someone’s not going to get the job, and they’re both going to have to handle that the right way because it’s a long season. And so, in the end, when we all understand that this whole entire organization feels good with both quarterbacks, that’s a good problem to have. Now it’s our job to make it work.”

But you have to wonder — even at this point when no contender has run away with this thing — if Nagy already has his mind made up. Do they roll the dice with Trubisky — give their first-round pick one last chance — or play it safe with Foles and officially turn the page?

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Bears’ cornerback situation dubbed one of biggest Achille’s heels of 2020

ESPN ranked Chicago’s cornerback situation among the biggest concerns in the NFL heading into the 2020 season.

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ESPN examined some of the biggest Achille’s heels teams are facing heading into the 2020 season, ranking them from teams most likely to least likely to overcome those weaknesses.

As for the Chicago Bears’ biggest weakness, it surprisingly wasn’t quarterback. But it does involve another contested battle in training camp at cornerback. ESPN ranked Chicago’s cornerback situation at No. 3, which makes it among their biggest concerns in the NFL. They projected Buster Skrine to land the starting job opposite two-time Pro Bowler Kyle Fuller.

Achilles’ heel: cornerback
Projected starter: Buster Skrine

In 2018, the Bears had the most fearsome secondary in football. In 2019? Not so much. Adrian Amos and Bryce Callahan left town, but even the stars of 2018 took a step backward. Eddie Jackson’s tackling was inconsistent, and the ball hawk intercepted only two passes after taking away six the prior year. Kyle Fuller went from seven picks to three, and his passer rating allowed jumped from 63.7 in 2018 to 102.0 in 2019. No cornerback last season allowed more than Fuller’s 942 yards.

I would expect Fuller to allow fewer yards in 2020, in part because teams won’t throw at him as frequently. The Bears cut Prince Amukamara this offseason and tried to replace him with former Steelers first-rounder Artie Burns, only for the corner to tear his ACL in August. The Bears used a second-round pick on Utah product Jaylon Johnson, but he has been limited after returning from shoulder surgery. The likely Week 1 starter is Skrine, who was the slot corner a year ago and might be stretched on the boundary. Little-used LSU product Kevin Toliver would be next up. The Bears will need Johnson to play like a veteran when he does get on the field to avoid a barrage of targets to the left side.

The Bears have had brutal luck at cornerback this offseason, losing two of their three contenders at starting cornerback to injury. Tre Roberson broke his foot in preparation for the season while Artie Burns, just one day after taking opening snaps with the first team defense, suffered a torn ACL.

That left second-round rookie Jaylon Johnson and Kevin Toliver to battle for the starting job. But Skrine, who has played nickel back for the Bears, is certainly in the mix on the outside. He’s seen a fair share of looks at right cornerback in the base 3-4 defense and rotates inside to the slot in nickel personnel with Toliver taking the right corner spot.

The hope is that Johnson will become the No. 2 guy opposite Fuller. But Johnson has been limited in training camp as he recovers from shoulder surgery. He’s not expected to see action early, but Johnson does have potential to make an impact in his rookie season.

While there isn’t much concern about Chicago’s defense heading into this season, it’s not without its concerns. And cornerback is no doubt the biggest.

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Cordarrelle Patterson ready to play wherever Bears need him

One of the Bears’ biggest playmakers Cordarrelle Patterson is about to get an increased workload on offense this season.

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One of the Chicago Bears’ biggest playmakers is about to get an increased workload on offense this season. Versatile weapon Cordarrelle Patterson has been getting looks at running back during training camp.

Patterson has found success as a kick returner and wide receiver, and he’s prepared to play wherever the Bears need him to contribute, including running back.

“I’m a full-time whatever-coach-needs-me-to-be,” Patterson said, via ChicagoBears.com. “Anytime I’m out there on the field, I’m a full-time whatever. I don’t limit myself on the football field. Whatever coach needs me to do, I’m going to do—safety, running back, right guard, left guard—it doesn’t matter. I just want to be out there on the football field helping my team win.”

With starter David Montgomery sidelined with a groin injury for the next 2-4 weeks, the Bears could certainly lean on Patterson to create the kind of explosive plays that he’s been known for. In fact, it wouldn’t be the first time he stepped in for an injured starter.

Patterson had success at running back in lieu of an injured Sony Michel, where he started two straight games for the New England Patriots in 2018. Patterson combined for 99 yards on 21 carries and a touchdown in two wins.

That’s the same kind of success that the running backs coach Charles London believes could have an impact at running back for the Bears.

“When we were evaluating him, we went back and watched all the touches he’s had at running back in his entire career,” London said. “You see an explosive player. You see a big player. You see a guy who can outrun guys. You see a guy that’s hard to tackle. I think a lot of the traits you see with him as a running back, you see with him on kickoff return as well.

“We’re pleased with where he’s at. A lot of it is new to him. He’s never been asked to do some of this stuff before. I know he’s excited about it, and he’s been doing a good job.”

But transitioning to a entirely new position is easier said than done. There’s definitely some . But London believes Patterson will make that transition.

“I think it’s going to work because he wants it to work,” London said. “He’s really excited about this. He knows how he can help the team in this spot. He’s worked hard in the offseason to learn the offense and to learn the intricacies of being a running back and what he has to do. He’s learning protections and doing everything the rest of the guys are doing. I just think as time goes on and he gets more and more comfortable, you’re going to see a more and more explosive player.”

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Matt Nagy says Bears will name starting QB next week

The Bears are running out of time to name their starting quarterback, and Matt Nagy says the starter will be announced during game week.

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The Chicago Bears are running out of time to name their starting quarterback between Mitchell Trubisky and Nick Foles. And it certainly hasn’t helped the neither has separated himself from the other in the training camp competition.

On Saturday, Nagy told reporters that he wasn’t going to name the starter until the Week 1 opener against the Detroit Lions. But Nagy insists that he won’t be waiting until game day to make the announcement.

The Bears will announce their starter during game week, which is just under a week from now. Nagy isn’t trying to hide anything. He’s just trying to utilize every available rep that comes with what’s shaping up to be the defining week in this competition.

“What I meant, to keep it real simple, is that there was not going to be a quarterback named this week that we’re in right now,” Nagy told reporters. “There will be no waiting until the middle of the week or the end of the week for that to happen. That wouldn’t be fair to our team and it wouldn’t be fair to the quarterbacks.”

Nagy was then asked if he planned on naming the starter on Monday or Wednesday of game week, to which he played coy.

“Honestly,” he said, “that’s completely (uncertain). Right now, we don’t know that. But it would be in that time frame there somewhere.

“You will know by the time most teams usually know. We’re not hiding anything. What we’re going through for us is this whole process. And we don’t even know that yet, to be quite honest. We’re talking through those situations and what’s best and how to go about it. We’re just really honestly not there yet.”

Given there’s been no preseason reps, Nagy and his coaches have had to get creative in their evaluation. They’re looking at every play — every snap, every throw, every decision. And while we don’t know for certain where Trubisky and Foles stand after two weeks of padded practices, it doesn’t sound reassuring given the reports out of camp practices from media in attendance.

The Bears are waiting for someone to separate himself in the competition. And there’s a good possibility that this thing could end in a draw. But Nagy insists he already has a plan in place should that happen.

One thing is certain: There’s not a lot of confidence surrounding the Bears’ quarterback situation. And it’s even more likely that both Trubisky and Foles see some time this season should things go south.

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