Tag: Tremaine Edumnds

8 Bears players to watch in preseason finale vs. Bills

Here are eight players we’ll be watching for when the Bears take on the Bills in Saturday’s preseason finale.

Just as quickly as it started, the 2023 NFL preseason finale is already here for the Chicago Bears, meaning the regular season isn’t far away. The Bears take on the Buffalo Bills on Saturday at noon CT at Soldier Field in a game that will serve as a tune-up for both teams.

Bears head coach Matt Eberflus announced that the starters on offense and defense who are healthy will see action, including Justin Fields. Head coach Sean McDermott of the Bills is doing the same with his team before giving way to the reserves.

Saturday’s contest will be the final chance for many players to make their case for why they deserve a spot on the final roster. But it’s also an opportunity to see the starters get game action since most of them sat out last week’s preseason game against the Colts. Here are eight players to keep an eye on when the Bears and Bills kick off.

Jaylon Johnson claims Bears defense ‘has different mojo’ this year

CB Jaylon Johnson told Brian Baldinger that the Bears defense has a different attitude coming into the 2023 season.

Despite expectations being relatively high, the 2022 Chicago Bears fell well short of expectations. The team only managed to muster three wins, ending the season on a 10-game losing streak. Many fans were left with a sour taste in their mouths, pondering with irritation as to what crippled Chicago’s season.

Many fans were quick to attach the blame to Field’s “failure” to take the superstar leap and become an elite quarterback in only his second season. Others called out the subpar performance of both the offensive and defensive line, or the questionable play calling of offensive coordinator Luke Getsy.

The truth is is all of those factors and more were to blame; football is a team sport, after all. One major contributor that is often overlooked was the subpar play of the defense, and it’s easy to understand why.

The defense had a statement game in a 33-14 Week 7 thrashing of the New England Patriots, elevating the unit’s performance for a large stretch afterward. The defense soon after lost that magic, failing to make a stand in crucial late-game situations, resulting in many late Bears leads to be stolen away in the waning seconds of the game.

Veteran cornerback Jaylon Johnson made it clear in an interview with NFL Network’s Brian Baldinger that things will be different for his squad in 2023, confidently claiming that “there’s a whole different mojo with our defense.”

Johnson made the tremendous point that both him and safety Eddie Jackson were not what they wanted to be in 2022 and he holds both themselves and the defense to a higher standard. The two defensive backs are considered leaders of the team, and for the duo to take accountability for their mishaps last season surely means a lot to the guys they suit up with every day.

The 2023 Bears defense is looking good, at least on paper. General manager Ryan Poles invested heavily in the unit in the offseason, signing premier free agent linebackers Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards and drafting promising rookies like cornerback Tyrique Stevenson and defensive tackle Gervon Dexter. The team’s recent signing of stud pass-rusher Yannick Ngakoue has, in Twitter (X) terms, given the defense some juice, and the talk of the town has suddenly shifted to how great the defense can be.

Most of the NFL world continues to overlook Chicago, and the fanbase generally expects the team to put the league on notice in a hurry. Although Fields is the one anointed to essentially carry the Bears back into relevancy, the defense is positioned to help QB1 shoulder that burden.

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5 takeaways from new episode of Bears’ docuseries ‘1920 Football Drive’

A new episode of the Bears’ 1920 Football Drive has just been released, and there were five big takeaways.

Who needs HBO’s “Hard Knocks” anyway?

The newest entry in the Chicago Bears YouTube documentary series, 1920 Football Drive, was just released. The episode, titled “Newest Bears get to work,” centers around the players the Bears have recently acquired and how they are adjusting to life in Chicago.

Several interesting moments occurred over the episode’s 16-minute runtime, so let’s discuss the top five takeaways from the newest episode of 1920 Football Drive.

Bears LB Jack Sanborn ‘ready to hit the ground running’ for training camp

Bears LB Jack Sanborn is ready for training camp, where he’s 100% after recovering from his ankle injury.

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The 2022 season was an overall disappointing outing for the Chicago Bears, as nagging injuries and inadequate play culminated in the club only scoring three wins in 17 games. The season wasn’t all doom and gloom, however; several players took hold of their opportunities and made the best of them.

Quarterback Justin Fields is the prime example, of course, but there were other players who displayed growth in their roles, such as safety Jaquan Brisker, cornerback Kyler Gordon and, most surprisingly, undrafted rookie linebacker Jack Sanborn.

Wisconsin’s own Sanborn became a real diamond in the rough for a Bears team that desperately needed a spark at the linebacker position, especially after former Bears All-Pro Roquan Smith was traded to the Ravens.

Sanborn’s quietly solid season came to an end after an ankle injury in a late-season matchup against the Eagles placed him on the injured/reserved list. Both the fans and media had some concerns that the injury may keep the young linebacker out of training camp, but Sanborn put those worries to rest in a recent interview with ESPN 1000 Bears Weekly, in which he confirms that he’s “ready to hit the ground running.”

The hosts of the show, former Bears Tom Thayer and Jim Miller, asked Sanborn about the sort of topics he discussed with the front office during his end-of-season exit interview.

“We all understood what the main goal was, the main goal was getting healthy,” Sanborn said. “Getting my ankle to 100%. And obviously, I didn’t do OTAs and do minicamp, (I) just really focused on trying to getting back, and getting back to 100%…

“I’ve kind of made my offseason a little different… but I think, at the same, I’ve made the most of it, you know, trying to get better at different areas… and yeah, I think, everyone’s comfortable. I’m very comfortable with where I’m at right now… yeah, (I’m) ready to hit the ground running in a week or so, and, you know, start year two.”

Sanborn’s readiness for his sophomore year is an exciting prospect for Bears fans, considering general manager Ryan Poles committed to rebuilding the linebacker position in the offseason, signing the Bills’ Tremaine Edmunds and the Eagles’ T.J. Edwards. Add Sanborn into the mix, and that creates one frightening position group that will punish anyone daring enough to challenge the linebackers over the middle.

Sanborn filled up the stat sheet in his debut season, recording 64 tackles, one fumble recovery, and two sacks.

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Bears 2023 linebacking corps earns high grade from PFF

People have high hopes for the Bears and their revamped linebacker unit.

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The Chicago Bears invested plenty of money in their linebacking corps this offseason and it’s led to high expectations for the upcoming season. One NFL analyst went as far to say it will be one of the best units in all of football.

Dalton Wasserman of Pro Football Focus (PFF) recently ranked every linebacker unit in the NFL and has the Bears at No. 2, trailing only the San Francisco 49ers who claimed the top spot for the second consecutive year in his rankings. The Baltimore Ravens, New Orleans Saints, and Cincinnati Bengals rounded out the rest of the top five.

Here’s what Wasserman had to say about why he chose the Bears as high as he did.

Chicago’s front seven underperformed in 2022, so the team used free agency to acquire two of the highest-graded players at the position. Tremaine Edmunds arrives from Buffalo after a long-awaited breakout that saw massive increases in his overall (81.9) and coverage (90.0) grades. The latter mark, along with his 10 pass breakups, led all qualified linebackers.

T.J. Edwards comes with less fanfare but was the unsung hero of the Eagles’ elite defense. He played nearly 1,200 snaps and graded above 78.0 against the run, in coverage and as a pass-rusher, which added up to the sixth-best overall grade (81.6) at the position.

Second-year man Jack Sanborn provides a good complement as a rugged, SAM-type linebacker in Matt Eberflus’ 4-3 defense. He showed flashes of talent last year, posting 80.0-plus grades in his last two games.

This group hasn’t played together yet, but the Bears are banking on talent and couldn’t have much more at their disposal.

As Wasserman points out, none of the projected starting linebackers have played together yet but individually, they bring a lot to the table. Edmunds, the prize of free agency for the Bears after signing a four-year, $72 million deal, is still very young at just 25 years old despite entering his sixth NFL season. He has the ideal physical traits for a middle linebacker and has produced in each season, totaling over 100 tackles every year he’s been in the league.

Edwards, meanwhile, signed a three-year $19.7 million deal in free agency and joins Edmunds as a potentially lethal duo. The 26-year old totaled 159 tackles, seventh-most in the NFL last season with 10 tackles for loss. He and Edmunds also each had seven pass breakups, tied for seventh among all linebackers according to data from Pro Football Reference.

They join Sanborn, the lone holdover from the 2022 season who wasn’t even on the radar as a starter last fall. He didn’t get playing time until the Bears dealt Roquan Smith and promptly put on a show as one of the bright spots on defense with his instinctual play. He had 59 tackles in six starts. The Bears also drafted linebacker Noah Sewell in the fifth round this year, who could work his way into the rotation as well.

With training camp yet to begin, this unit is still getting integrated and it could take some time for them to gel. But it’s clear those around the NFL have high hopes for the Bears linebacking corps when the regular season begins.

Twitter reacts to the Bears’ selection of LB Noah Sewell

The Bears added Noah Sewell in the fifth round as linebacker depth. Here is how Twitter reacted to the pick.

The Chicago Bears just added a wrinkle to their rivalry with the Detroit Lions. General manager Ryan Poles and the Bears selected Oregon linebacker Noah Sewell with the No. 148 pick of the 2023 NFL Draft. Sewell is the younger brother of Lions offensive tackle Penei Sewell, who was drafted with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft two years ago.

Noah Sewell is an inside linebacker who will compete for playing time with the Bears’ revamped group. He was a three-year starter with the Ducks and has outstanding size at the position. He joins players such as Tremaine Edmunds, T.J. Edwards, and Jack Sanborn but will most likely contribute on special teams to begin his career.

Sewell has name recognition but are Bears fans satisfied with the pick? Here is how Twitter reacted to the selection.