Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
10 former Colts are on the AFC, NFC Championship rosters.
As the playoffs heat up with the conference championship gets set for this weekend, the Indianapolis Colts will see a handful of former players taking part in the big games.
By our count, 10 former players across three of the teams donned the horseshoe at one point regardless of whether they were an early draft pick or a player on the practice squad.
Here’s a look at 10 former Colts players who are on the AFC and NFC Championship rosters:
The latest player additions for the Detroit Lions have decided on their jersey numbers, as well as number switches from last season.
The Detroit Lions have finalized their 53-man roster and practice squad, but as we all know, this could change at any moment. The roster now includes a mix of new and old players, and we’re excited to see what jersey numbers they’ll be wearing this season. Some players have even decided to switch their numbers from last year.
Below is the list of jersey numbers for the new players, as well as the players who have switched their numbers for this season.
Teddy Bridgewater takes over No. 10, previously held by Nate Sudfeld
Jerry Jacobs previously was 39 but switched to No. 23.
Steven Gilmore switched to No. 24 after sporting 36 through the preseason
Michael Badgley goes back to No. 17, which he held last season.
David Blough will be No. 18 this year. He previously was 10 when he was with the Lions before.
Zonovan Knight will hold No. 28 after the departure of Jermar Jefferson
Raymond Johnson will be No. 52 after the release of Christian Covington
Michael Niese will take over No. 62 with the departure of Ryan Swoboda
Darice Fountain will hold No. 84, which was previously held by Avery Davis
Quinton Bohanna will be No. 90 after Cory Durden was waived
The Lions add veteran WR Daurice Fountain to the practice squad
The Detroit Lions have added another wide receiver to the mix. The Lions have signed veteran wideout Daurice Fountain to one of the remaining practice squad vacancies.
The news was first reported by Jordan Schultz.
Fountain spent the offseason with the Chicago Bears, where he performed well in the preseason. The 27-year-old has been in the NFL since 2018, when he was a fifth-round pick by the Indianapolis Colts after a brilliant college career at Northern Iowa. He spent the 2022 season on the Kansas City Chiefs’ practice squad.
The 6-foot-2 Fountain has just two receptions in his NFL career, both with the Colts in 2020. He joins a Lions practice squad that also features WRs Maurice Alexander and Dylan Drummond.
With final roster cuts upon us, here are the best players who probably won’t make the Bears’ initial 53-man roster.
Preseason is in the rearview mirror, and the NFL regular season is less than two weeks away. The small amount of time between is a period of speculation, predictions, and building anticipation for a long 17-game year.
Before we reach that point however, every NFL roster has to be trimmed down to 53 players before the season starts. That means the Chicago Bears have many hard decisions to make in the next 24 hours, as Tuesday is the deadline for roster cuts.
Both the young, talented, but unproven, players and the hardened veterans of the team are not invulnerable to cut day, and players across the spectrum will be bidding Chicago farewell.
With that being said, let’s discuss the seven best Bears players who will be cut on Tuesday.
Note: This list includes players who have already been released.
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.
With just a week to go before roster cutdowns, here are the Bears players whose stock is rising and falling.
Chicago Bears training camp 2023 has come and gone, and there’s only one more week to go in the preseason. In other words, meaningful football isn’t far away. The Bears have one more week to determine who deserves a spot on the initial 53-man roster, but after two preseason games, many players have already made their case.
Some have surprised with impressive performances, while others are falling behind. It doesn’t matter if they’re a projected starter or a reserve; everyone is looking to put their best foot forward to begin the season on a positive note. Going into the final preseason game against the Buffalo Bills this Saturday, here are the players whose stock is rising and falling in the debut of the Chicago Bears stock exchange.
This game didn’t provide many answers, but it raised plenty of questions. Here are our takeaways from the Bears 24-17 loss to the Colts.
All good things must come to an end. For the first time in over two years, the Chicago Bears have lost a preseason football game, snapping their five-game winning streak as well as head coach Matt Eberflus’ undefeated streak since becoming head coach. Okay, it’s not that dramatic but the Bears did fall to the Indianapolis Colts 24-17.
The game was dominated by the backups as neither team played many of their starters, including the quarterbacks. That was very apparent in the first quarter with no scoring of any kind. It wasn’t until the second quarter where things began to heat up. The Colts and the Bears traded long touchdown drives thanks to Gardner Minshew and Tyson Bagent, respectively, and were tied up at 7-7 going into halftime.
Following a field goal and another touchdown from the Bears in the third quarter, it appeared Chicago was on its way to another win. But Sam Ehlinger and the Colts had different plans. Indianapolis orchestrated scoring drives on their final three possessions to secure the win.
In a game with no starters, it can be tough to find noteworthy takeaways. This matchup may not have provided many answers, but it raised plenty of questions. Here are our takeaways from Saturday’s loss.
The Bears are no longer undefeated in the preseason under Matt Eberflus. Here is everything we know about the loss to the Colts.
Preseason game No. 2 is in the books for the 2023 Chicago Bears as they fell to the Indianapolis Colts 24-17, ending Matt Eberflus’ perfect preseason record. Both teams got off to a rocky start as neither squad had many of their starters out on the field.
Neither team was able to do much offensively through the first quarter. The Colts finally put together a productive drive thanks to quarterback Gardner Minshew, who threw a touchdown pass to Juwan Winfree. The Bears responded with their own touchdown drive, led by undrafted rookie quarterback Tyson Bagent to tie things up at halftime.
Things remained tight in the second half but the Colts pulled away in the fourth quarter with two touchdown runs from quarterback Sam Ehlinger. A fumble by Bears fullback Robert Burns ended any comeback bid, which led to a field goal by the Colts to cement the victory.
Here is everything we know following the disappointing loss.
Colts’ rookie CB Jaylon Jones earned our Player of the Game honors.
The Indianapolis Colts returned to Lucas Oil Stadium for their first action of the 2023 season, resulting in a 24-17 win over the Chicago Bears.
Amid their battle with the Bears was a standout rookie in cornerback Jaylon Jones.
Jones, drafted in the seventh round this April, is making the most of his reps and making it hard for the team to ignore his efforts.
Jones showed up to Saturday’s game with energy and hustle, breaking up plays before they had a chance to materialize and making some timely tackles. Additionally, he used his instincts to close in on tackles during drives and even showed potential as a special teams gunner.
Perhaps his most impressive play was a pass breakup in the third quarter that would have been a huge chunk play for the Bears. Quarterback Nathan Peterman launched the ball deep downfield, and Jones promptly got a hand in to break up the pass to former Colts wide receiver Reece Fountain.
Jones finished the game with five tackles, including four solo tackles, and a pass defensed.
The Bears rookie was speechless when he saw the tab.
The Chicago Bears wide receivers enjoyed a nice dinner together before their second preseason game of the season against the Indianapolis Colts on Friday night. But judging by the look on Tyler Scott’s face, the rookie may have wanted to show off his speed by getting out of that restaurant in a hurry after seeing the “bill.”
The position group decided to play a prank on Scott while out to dinner, saying he needed to pick up the tab as part of his rookie duties. The only problem was the total that was given to him was for $20,501.81. Wide receiver Daurice Fountain captured the moment on his Instagram, where Scott was dumbfounded when he saw the total before realizing it was a joke.
Yeah yeah, y’all boys got me last night with the prank 😂 love my unit though ! 🖤 pic.twitter.com/gtvSYORN8T
— Tyler Scott (@TheTylerScott) August 19, 2023
The bill was passed around the room before making its way to Scott and Fountain laughed hysterically as the rookie tried to make sense of it. Fortunately, Scott didn’t have to pay and Fountain made sure to note the bill was not $20,000.
Before everyone starts tripping, it was a joke, the bill WASN’T 20k and he didn’t have to pay. We just wanted to scare him a little bit, S/O little Ty Ty 😂🖤 https://t.co/k3PYNpidlC
— Daurice Fountain (@Reece_JMM) August 19, 2023
Though the fun came at Scott’s expense, it’s good to see the receivers bonding together during the preseason. Scott’s status for the game is up in the air after he sat out of Thursday’s practice. The Bears and Colts kick off later this evening at 6 pm CT.
