Tag: Darnell Wright

5 biggest storylines going into Week 2 against the Buccaneers

The Bears are looking to get their first win of the season against the Buccaneers. Here’s what to watch for on Sunday:

The Chicago Bears have the chance to rebound following a brutal Week 1 loss and advance to 1-1 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.

It’s been a tumultuous week in Halas Hall this week; both defensive coordinator Alan Williams and starting guard Nate Davis will not join the team in Tampa Bay due to personal reasons, and several players admitted that last week’s embarrassing loss to Green Bay was a humbling experience.

It’s all culminated in what’s generally perceived as a “must-win” game in only the second week of the NFL season. The dire circumstances are not an over-exaggeration; several jobs, both players and coaches, could be on the line if Chicago’s fails in the same spectacular fashion as they did last week.

From a pure football perspective, the Bears’ game against the Bucs is certainly winnable. Tampa Bay has talent, particularly at receiver and at the defensive line, but Chicago has talent too. The two squads are more evenly matched than many anticipated, and it should make for an interesting game, to say the least.

As the Bears’ soap opera of a week reaches its climactic conclusion, let’s go over the five biggest storylines heading into this Week 2 against the Buccaneers.

Chicago Bears stock exchange: Who’s up, who’s down after Week 1?

Let’s take a look at whose Bears stock is on the rise and whose is falling after Week 1.

Week 1 is thankfully in the rearview mirror for the Chicago Bears and their fans, but the fallout from their disappointing 38-20 loss to the Green Bay Packers continues throughout the week. Analysts and experts continue to pick apart the team’s performance, player effort, and overall execution. Week 2 can’t get here fast enough to give this group a chance at redemption.

As the Bears return to practice to prepare for their trip down to Florida to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, they’ll do so with these players in the spotlight whose stocks may be rising and falling. Some of them shined in their first action of the season last week, while quite a few fell flat.

Here is the first iteration of the Chicago Bears Stock Exchange for the regular season.

7 things to know heading into Bears-Packers in Week 1

From another season-opener battle to Justin Fields vs. Jordan Love, here are 7 things to know ahead of the Bears’ Week 1 game vs. Packers.

Sunday afternoon. Bears. Packers. Week 1. Football is finally here.

The historic rivalry between Chicago and Green Bay will be back in full swing when the Packers visit the Bears in just a few days’ time. Chicago will be debuting a reworked offensive unit that features star receiver DJ Moore, rookie first round pick Darnell Wright, and, of course, dynamic quarterback Justin Fields, who the entirety of fanbase is hoping will become the savior of the franchise.

In the other corner, Green Bay has a question mark etched into a position that has previously been stable for a long time: the quarterback. Former first round selection Jordan Love will be leading a unit that boasts the talented Christian Watson and a two-headed monster of a running back group in Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon.

Two of the oldest NFL teams are on collision course for each other Sunday, and here is everything you need to know about the NFL’s oldest rivalry.

Bears stars to attend autograph and photo event in Schaumburg

Bears players, including Justin Fields and DJ Moore, will appear at the Elite Icons Autograph and Sports Card Show in October.

The Chicago Bears will be making their grand return to historic Soldier Field in just over a week, kicking off a 2023 season that is sure to be a rollercoaster of highs and lows. And while Chicago fans enjoy the festivities week in and week out, they’ll have the chance to meet the team’s biggest stars.

Several players will reportedly participate in the Elite Icons Autograph and Sports Card Show, an event that will take place in the Chicago suburb of Schamburg from Friday, Oct. 6 through Sunday, Oct. 8.

According to the show’s official Facebook event page, fans will have the opportunity to receive autographs and take photos with some big-name Bears players: Justin Fields, Tremaine Edmunds, DJ Moore, Darnell Wright, T.J. Edwards and Jack Sanborn. They will be joined by all-time great NFL players such as Zach Thomas, Ladainian Tomlinson and Bo Jackson.

The event provides diehard football fans a rare opportunity to meet the super humans they root for every season. The dates of the event coincide perfectly with a pseudo-bye week the team will be enjoying. They’ll battle Washington Commanders in a Week 5 game on Oct. 5, and they have a mini-bye week before they play a Sunday divisional game against the Minnesota Vikings on Oct. 15.

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5 biggest storylines in the Bears’ preseason finale vs. Bills

The Bears will take on the Bills in their final game of the preseason. Here’s what we’ll be watching for.

After many long months of waiting, the preseason is nearly over, and the regular season is almost here.

Before the Chicago Bears bid farewell to the preseason, the coaching staff has decided to play all healthy starters to give the team a true dress rehearsal for what will be an eventful season. The Bears will face a tough opponent in the Buffalo Bills on Saturday, a team that was one of the NFL’s best last season.

Saturday’s game is bound to be the most exciting of the preseason, and that means there are several important aspects of the game to keep an eye out for. How will a disheveled offensive line do against a fierce Bills defensive front? Can Chicago’s improved defense limit an explosive Bills offense? Will rookie phenom Tyson Bagent have another great game and lock himself in as Justin Fields’ backup?

Let’s take a look at the five biggest storylines heading into the Bears’ final game of the preseason.

Bears OL coach Chris Morgan provides encouraging update on injured Darnell Wright

Bears rookie Darnell Wright left Tuesday’s practice with an apparent ankle injury. But it sounds like it isn’t anything serious.

The Chicago Bears offensive line is battling injuries right now to key starters with three weeks until the start of the regular season.

Rookie right tackle Darnell Wright is the latest addition to the injury list, after he left Tuesday’s practice with an apparent ankle injury. Head coach Matt Eberflus didn’t have an immediate update after practice. But it sounds like Wright’s injury isn’t anything serious.

“He’s doing great,” offensive line coach Chris Morgan told reporters Wednesday. “We’ll see how everything goes, where everything’s at. One day at a time.”

Translation? It sounds like Wright is considered “day-to-day,” which is more encouraging than Teven Jenkins’ “week-to-week” status.

Outside of Jenkins, it sounds like injuries to Wright, Cody Whitehair, Lucas Patrick and Nate Davis aren’t considered long-term. In fact, Whitehair, Patrick and Davis are already back at practice in ramp-up mode.

The good news is there are still three weeks until the Week 1 opener against the Green Bay Packers, which gives these players plenty of time to get healthy and ready to protect quarterback Justin Fields.

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State of the Bears offensive line: Who’s injured, who’s healthy ahead of preseason finale

We’re taking a look at the current state of the Bears’ offensive line with three weeks until the start of the regular season.

The Chicago Bears offensive line will be a key factor in the success of quarterback Justin Fields in a pivotal third season.

General manager Ryan Poles spent the offseason overhauling the line with the key additions of Nate Davis and rookie Darnell Wright, and there was some shifting along the offensive line.

Unfortunately, injuries have started to take its toll on Chicago’s offensive line — yet again — where all but one starter has dealt with an injury at some point this summer. And there are a couple currently working through an injury with the regular season just around the corner.

Let’s take a look at the current state of the Bears’ offensive line heading into the preseason finale:

Grading every Bears offensive position’s performance in the preseason

As the Bears prepare to wrap up their preseason, we graded every offensive position group through the first two games.

The last couple of weeks have been a wild ride for the Chicago Bears and their fans. The team got off to a blazing hot start in Week 1 of the preseason, with the offense generating multiple scoring drives and the defense imposing their will upon the Tennessee Titans.

The Bears failed to replicate their dominance against the Indianapolis Colts the following week, falling flat at several positions. Throw in some interesting choices for who did and didn’t play, odd injuries that no one saw coming and a Herculean effort from a backup rookie quarterback, it’s safe to say the preseason has been anything but dull.

With only one exhibition game left against the Buffalo Bills on Saturday, it’s a good time to take a step back from the storylines and narratives that pervade our social media feeds and discuss each position.

We will be grading position groups with a letter grade, with “A” being the best and “F” being the worst. Bear in mind, we are ranking the performance of each position based on their overall play in the preseason; what that position did on the field over the last two preseason games is the only thing being considered.

For example, DJ Moore, Chase Claypool and Darnell Mooney are all talented receivers, but because one of those three players didn’t play, it will hurt the position’s overall grade.

Now that the rules are sorted, let’s analyze and grade every offensive position’s performance in the preseason.

Bears offensive line could factor into whether Justin Fields plays in preseason finale

The Bears offensive line is banged up, which could factor into whether or not Justin Fields plays against the Bills.

The Chicago Bears are gearing up for their preseason finale against the Buffalo Bills, where the biggest question is whether starters will see the field after resting last week.

Head coach Matt Eberflus told reporters Tuesday that he hasn’t decided who will play in Saturday’s preseason finale at Soldier Field.

“That will be evaluated throughout the course of the week,” Eberflus said. “We’re looking at practice, we’re looking at each individual’s health, we’re looking at each unit’s health, we’re looking at everything from all those factors that factor into it, and we’ll decide here in a couple days when we have our personnel meeting to discuss personnel—who is going to play and how much and when for the game.”

One of the factors that could determine whether Fields plays is the status of the offensive line. The Bears have been ravaged by injuries, especially along the offensive line. Teven Jenkins is out for the foreseeable future, and there have been several starters or key reserves sidelined.

Now, rookie right tackle Darnell Wright is dealing with an apparent ankle injury. With the onus on protecting Fields, that’s not an ideal situation in a meaningless preseason game.

“There’s no question that will be looked at,” Eberflus said. “You’ve always got to look at the combinations and the health of the offensive linemen when you’re talking about the quarterback. That will all be looked at and we’ll see where it is.”

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Bears rookie RT Darnell Wright left practice with apparent ankle injury

Injuries continue to plague the Bears’ offensive line.

The hits just keep on coming for the Chicago Bears offensive line.

Not only is Teven Jenkins expected to miss significant time through the first month of the regular season, but rookie right tackle Darnell Wright left Tuesday’s practice early.

According to media members in attendance, Wright didn’t finish practice and he had a noticeable limp. Here’s what happened, via 670 the Score’s Chris Emma:

Wright limped off the practice field Tuesday at Halas Hall after having his right ankle rolled up during team drills. Wright stayed in practice for two plays after his ankle was banged up before leaving for an evaluation with the Bears’ medical staff. He didn’t return to action.

Bears head coach Matt Eberflus was asked about Wright after practice, but he didn’t have an immediate update or timetable for return.

“I have not gotten clarity on that yet,” Eberflus said. “I don’t know exactly what that is.”

Wright’s injury is the latest in a growing list of injuries along the offensive line. Jenkins is reportedly dealing with calf injuries in both legs. Nate Davis missed a good portion of training camp with an undisclosed injury.

Then there’s Cody Whitehair, who’s day-to-day with a hand injury suffered in a joint practice with the Indianapolis Colts. Lucas Patrick, who’s missed the last couple of weeks, did return to practice and is in ramp-up mode.

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