Tag: Tremaine Edmunds

Former Bills turned Bears players say hello to ex-teammates

Former #Bills turned #Bears players say hello to ex-teammates:

The Buffalo Bills welcome the Chicago Bears to Highmark Stadium on Saturday for their preseason opener.

In doing so, a few familiar faces will be in the building for the 1 p.m. kickoff.

The most prominent one is linebacker Tremaine Edmunds. The former first-round pick of the Bills, he was selected in the same draft class with current Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen in 2018.

Along with Edmunds, tight end Tommy Sweeney and offensive lineman Ryan Bates make their Orchard Park returns as well.

As is usually the case, the trio of ex-Bills players used time before kickoff to catchup with former teammates.

Those clips of that action shared to social media can be found below:

[lawrence-related id=138532,138578,138555]

 

Bears DC Eric Washington believes LBs and DBs among the best in NFL

Bears DC Eric Washington believes the team’s back seven is “as good a group as there is in the NFL.”

There are high expectations surrounding the Chicago Bears heading into the 2024 season, and rightfully so.

While there’s plenty of excitement surrounding this offense, especially with the addition of rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, the defense has been flying under the radar.

Chicago’s defense was among the worst in the NFL in the first half of the 2023 season, but they made huge strides and were a top-10 unit in the final leg of the season. The addition of Montez Sweat at the trade deadline was a huge reason why.

Now, the Bears are returning their young core — including re-signing All-Pro cornerback Jaylon Johnson to a long-term deal — and expectations are high for this defense.

New defensive coordinator Eric Washington believes the pass rusher is better this year compared to the previous year. Although, it still needs some work. But Washington had high praise for Chicago’s linebackers and defensive backs, which he believes are among the best in the NFL.

“Our back seven, I think they’re as good a group as there is in the NFL,” Washington said. “I’m biased, but having a chance to be on the football field and watch them and watch the details, there’s a lot to be excited about.”

The Bears overhauled their linebacker group last offseason with the additions of T.J. Edwards and Tremaine Edmunds, and they were a big part of the defense’s success in 2023. Now, they’re back, along with Jack Sanborn, and looking to continue their dominance.

Chicago’s secondary is a young, ascending unit that made huge strides last season after struggling out of the gate. Johnson is the veteran anchor in that group, but there’s plenty of young defensive backs in place with Kyler Gordon, Jaquan Brisker, Tyrique Stevenson and Terell Smith. They also added All-Pro veteran safety Kevin Byard in free agency.

With the improvements made — and the continued development of young talent — the ceiling is high for this Bears defense in 2024.

Making a 53-man roster out of active ex-Buffalo Bills

Let’s have some fun:

The NFL is a league with plenty of turnover among players and staff. Every offseason, all 32 teams churn their roster through trades and drops, leading to recycling of personnel through free agency.

When Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott mentioned in his end-of-season presser to ‘not expect wholesale changes‘, it got us thinking: What if the entire roster was changed?

Well, as it turns out, we could.

Here are the ground rules we set for this exercise:

  • All players/coaches had to have been on a 90-man roster or practice squad at some point during the 2023 season (dating back to March 15, 2023) with one exception (below).
  • Players who weren’t in the NFL in 2023 were still considered if they were active in another league (CFL, XFL, etc.) this past season.
  • Players/coaches had to have been on the Bills’ 90-man roster, 53-man roster, or practice squad for at least one day at some point in their careers.
  • Construction of the 53-man had to be realistic and balanced in terms of numbers at each position (ie. we don’t have 1 running back and 15 wide receivers).
  • Players had to be listed at a position they’ve taken snaps in (ie. couldn’t put a TE along the OL, etc.).

This is what we came up with…

Bears LBs coach Dave Borgonzi named defensive coordinator for East-West Shrine Bowl

Dave Borgonzi joins Bears special teams coordinator Richard Hightower’s staff at this year’s East-West Shrine Bowl.

Another Chicago Bears coach is joining the staff for the East-West Shrine Bowl. Bears linebackers coach Dave Borgonzi will be the defensive coordinator for the East team. Borgonzi joins Bears special teams coordinator Richard Hightower’s staff for the game, who will serve as the East’s head coach. Arizona Cardinals passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach Drew Terrell will serve as Hightower’s offensive coordinator.

Borgonzi joined the Bears in 2022, coming over from the Indianapolis Colts with head coach Matt Eberflus, where he held the same role. Borgonzi has played a role in developing young linebackers such as Shaq Leonard and Bobby Okereke with the Colts and Jack Sanborn with the Bears. Under his tutelage this past season, linebackers TJ Edwards and Tremaine Edmunds excelled in their first season with the Bears.

The East-West Shrine Bowl is one of college football’s postseason all-star games that dates back to 1925. Since 2017, the game has pulled assistant coaches from the NFL to serve as coaches for each side. This year’s game takes place Thursday, February 4th, at 7 p.m. CT at the Ford Center at the Star in Frisco, TX.

WATCH: Bears LB Tremaine Edmunds gets pick 6 vs. Browns

Tremaine Edmunds gets the Bears back on the board with a defensive score.

The Chicago Bears nearly had a defensive touchdown in the first half. They made sure they didn’t miss their next opportunity. The Bears made the Browns pay on their opening possession of the second half, deflecting a Joe Flacco pass that fell into the arms of linebacker Tremaine Edmunds. The veteran backer followed his blockers up the right sideline for 45 yards for the score.

The interception was the second of the day for the Bears, following Eddie Jackson’s pick in the first half that went down to the one-yard line. That pick also resulted in points with a touchdown pass from Justin Fields to Cole Kmet. With Edmunds’ score and a field goal from Cairo Santos, the Bears currently lead 17-7 near the end of the third quarter.

Packers-Lions preview: Jordan Love’s improvement, and Jared Goff’s interceptions

Jordan Love of the Packers will look to continue his positive development against the Lions on Thanksgiving Day.

When the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions face off today to begin the Thanksgiving Day slate of NFL games, we’ll be watching Packers quarterback Jordan Love coming off a game against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 11 in which Love completed 27 of 40 passes for 322 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 108.5.

This included Love’s game-winning touchdown pass to receiver Romeo Doubs with 2:33 left in the fourth quarter.  Love took advantage of the Chargers’ busted coverage in Quarters, and made the right throw. Love is showing development both in and out of the pocket these days.

In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys get further into Love’s quest to claim the title of Next Packers Franchise Quarterback.

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Conversely, Lions quarterback Jared Goff is coming off a 31-26 win over the Chicago Bears in which he threw three interceptions — something he hadn’t done since he was with the Los Angeles Rams in 2019. Greg and Doug look at what those interceptions mean, and what happened.

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You can watch this week’s “Xs and Os” video, previewing all of Week 12’s biggest NFL matchups, right here:

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You can also listen and subscribe to the “Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.

Key things to know about Chargers’ Week 8 opponent: Bears

Here are some important things to know about the Bears ahead of the Week 8 matchup with the Chargers.

The Chargers will host the Bears on Sunday, Oct. 29, at 5:25 p.m. PT.

To get you prepped for the Week 8 bout, here are five key things to know about Los Angeles’ opponent ahead of the matchup.

Tyson time

Ahead of the season, the NFL slotted this game with the thought that it would be Justin Fields vs. Justin Herbert in primetime. However, Fields will be out with a dislocated right thumb. The Bears will turn to undrafted rookie out of Division II Shepherd, Tyson Bagent. Bagent made his NFL debut last weekend in Chicago’s win over the Raiders. He completed 21 of 29 pass attempts for 162 yards and a touchdown while adding 24 yards on the ground.

Deadly weapon

The Bears aren’t a team that’s going to pose a huge threat through the air. But if they resort to it, they’re more than likely going to look to their top target, D.J. Moore. Moore, who was acquired by Chicago this past offseason, has the third-most touchdowns (5) and the fifth-most receiving yards (636). Furthermore, he is averaging 15.9 yards per reception.

One of the most efficient rushing offenses

The Bears have the fifth-best rushing offense, with an average of 141.3 yards per game. In the last four games, they’re averaging a whopping 171.0 YPG, which marks the most in the NFL in that span. Veteran D’Onta Foreman has been paving the way while they’ve been without Khalil Herbert and Roschon Johnson, who are dealing with an ankle injury and concussion, respectively.

Defense is clicking

The Bears defense is coming together at the right time after being one of the worst groups to start the season. In the past three weeks, Chicago is top three in defensive EPA (21.99), yards per carry (2.5), interceptions (4), yards per attempt (6.1) and third-down percentage (29.4). They are a week removed from limiting Raiders running back Josh Jacobs to his second-lowest rushing games of the season with 35 yards.

Look out for…

Jaylon Johnson. Bland, the fourth-year player, is one of the best cover corners in the league. Johnson has the second-lowest passer rating among all cornerbacks in the league entering Week 8 (24.7). He had two interceptions on Sunday against the Raiders, including a pick-6.

Bears LB Tremaine Edmunds is sacking hunger with Campbell’s® Chunky, talks Dick Butkus and current state of the team

Tremaine Edmunds sat down with Bears Wire to talk about his work with Campbell’s® Chunky, Dick Butkus, his big game vs. Minnesota, and more.

Tremaine Edmunds is still relatively new to the city of Chicago, but he’s already doing his part in making a lasting impact both on and off the field. Last Sunday, he and Bears teammates did their part to sack the quarterback during the team’s Week 6 matchup with the Minnesota Vikings. On Tuesday, Edmunds turned his attention towards sacking hunger.

The Bears linebacker teamed up with Campbell’s® Chunky and spent the day at the Greater Chicago Food Depository helping collect donations as part of Chunky Sacks Hunger™, the brand’s community platform aimed at ending food insecurity. Throughout the season, Edmunds will be working with Campbell’s® Chunky, as well as other NFL defensive players throughout the league, to donate over two million meals to those in need.

Edmunds took some time in between packing meals to speak with Bears Wire about Chunky Sacks Hunger™ and why it means so much to him, as well as his last couple games with the Bears, and the passing of the legendary Dick Butkus.

8 takeaways from the Bears’ familiar loss to the Vikings

The Bears are who we thought they were after the 19-13 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. Here were our takeaways from the game.

It’s back to reality for the 2023 Chicago Bears. After an exciting victory over the Washington Commanders in Week 5, the Bears followed it up with a stinker on the lakefront, losing 19-13 to the Minnesota Vikings to fall to 1-5.

Chicago had 10 days to prepare for their divisional opponent, but apparently that wasn’t enough time to recognize Minnesota’s numerous blitz packages that thwarted the offense on the first play from scrimmage. Quarterback Justin Fields had a rough outing, completing just 6-of-10 passes for 58 yards and an interception before exiting the game with a dislocated thumb.

Backup undrafted rookie Tyson Bagent entered in relief and didn’t fare much better, committing two turnovers that thwarted any sort of comeback. The offense totaled just 275 yards and failed to capitalize when they had excellent field position, which they had often thanks to a strong defensive performance.

The Bears defense contained the Vikings offense for much of the day. Minnesota scored 12 offensive points, totaled 220 yards, and converted just 2-of-13 third-down conversions. With a (mostly) healthy secondary back and improved play from the linebackers, the defense played well enough for the team to win. That wasn’t the case, though, and now the Bears have to navigate an uncertain immediate future with key injuries sidelining players such as Fields.

Here were our takeaways from Sunday’s all-too-familiar loss.

Chicago Bears Stock Exchange: Who’s up, who’s down entering Week 6?

The Bears are coming off their first win of the year thanks to many players who are seeing their stock begin to rise.

For the first time in nearly a year, the Chicago Bears began a week of practice, coming off a regular-season win after they dismantled the Washington Commanders 40-20 on Thursday Night Football. The Bears were in control for most of the game as they got off to a fast start thanks to quarterback Justin Fields and wide receiver DJ Moore and never looked back. The score at halftime was 27-3, and though a late surge from the Commanders made things a bit more interesting late in the game, they were never a true threat to mount a comeback.

This was a team victory thanks to many different contributors on both sides of the ball, which means plenty of Bears players are seeing their stock rise as they get ready for a divisional matchup against the Minnesota Vikings. Here is the latest look at the Chicago Bears Stock Exchange heading into Week 6.