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With the first padded practice of Bears training camp in the books, here are the players who impressed on Tuesday.
The pads are on! The Chicago Bears are fully geared up for the first time during training camp, and several players are already using that to their advantage.
Players that were already having a strong camp elevated their play with their gear on, and the Bears who rely more on their physicality were able to make a much bigger impression.
Here are the Bears’ biggest standout players from day six of training camp.
Bears rookie Tyler Scott learned an important lesson from Jaylon Johnson about the importance of the mental aspect of the NFL game.
Bears rookie wide receiver Tyler Scott has been making an impression early in training camp with his game-breaking speed, which should make him a key contributor on offense this season.
Scott learned the biggest difference between college and acclimating to the NFL is the speed of the game but also “the knowledge of the players that you’re going against.”
That’s where veteran cornerback Jaylon Johnson comes in. Scott revealed how Johnson helped him learn the importance of the mental aspect of the NFL game.
“I remember my first rep against Jaylon Johnson when he came back in OTAs,” Scott said. “My very first rep, he was on top of it. He ran it for me. At that point I was like, ‘Man, he just gave me a taste of really [how] a high-level cornerback dissects the game and how they’re just one step ahead.’
“That’s pretty much the biggest difference, so I’m just trying to figure out now how do I use my speed, how do I threaten guys with that? At the end of the day, it’s a physical game … but it’s a mind game as well.”
Scott is using that knowledge when he faces off against Johnson in practice this summer, where he’s learning to play it close to the vest — and it payed off during one rep on Monday.
“With him, I’m just trying to make everything look the same. I’m not trying to give any tell signs,” Scott said. “As a receiver you have to be a good actor, and I’m just trying to be consistent in what I do. I caught a deeper hitch today against him on 7-on[-7], and the biggest thing I was trying to focus on was just really giving him my presence, like I’m going deep and just snapping it off and shutting it down, and I ended up making the catch.”
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The Bears rookies had an intense battle during 1-on-1 drills that was captured on video.
You know the old saying “iron sharpens iron” right? In the case of the Chicago Bears, that could not have been more accurate between a pair of rookies during Monday’s training camp practice up at Halas Hall.
During Monday’s practice as players began going through 1-on-1 drills, rookies Tyler Scott and Terell Smith had an intense battle that was caught on video by Clay Harbor.
This was a nice rep by both Bears rookies Terrell Smith and Tyler Scott.
Smith jams Scott off the line and throws off the rhythm of his route. Scott keeps playing and uses his elite quickness to get open. #DaBears #Bears #ChicagoBears pic.twitter.com/lSEZBuPPue
— Clay Harbor (@clayharbs82) July 31, 2023
Scott, the receiver was jammed immediately off the snap by the cornerback Smith and had to fight to regain his route. Smith was draped all over Scott until the receiver planted his foot on an inside move to lose him before whipping back to the outside to make the catch. Scott eventually got the better of Smith but it took a while for that to happen.
The two rookies have been pleasant surprises to start camp. Scott, a fourth-round pick out of Cincinnati, has displayed impressive bursts of speed and quickness both at receiver and on special teams. He’s blown past defenders on deep routes and has the ability to shake them in space. On the other side, Smith was drafted in the fifth round out of Minnesota and is a lengthy cornerback. He’s already turning heads in camp and has seen plenty of reps with the starting defense. Plays like the one with Scott are a reason why.
Time will tell whether or not Scott and/or Smith continue their rise and become meaningful contributors when the regular season gets underway. But both players showed why the Bears are so high on them this early in camp.
With the fifth practice of Bears training camp in the books, here are the players who stood out on Monday.
After a brief rest on Sunday, the Chicago Bears returned to the practice field for the second week of training camp.
While the pads aren’t on yet for the players — that’s coming tomorrow, according to center Cody Whitehair — several Bears stood out today, both on offense and defense. Even as the defense noticeably won the day for the first time this summer.
Let’s take a look at the seven Bears players who impressed on the fifth day of training camp.
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.
Madden 24 has released ratings for wide receivers and safeties. See the Bears’ players ratings:
The Chicago Bears are coming off a three-win season that culminated in a 10-game losing streak. Still, there’s plenty of optimism heading into the 2023 season following an impactful offseason.
EA Sports has started unveiling Madden 24 ratings, starting with wide receivers and safeties, where notable Bears players DJ Moore, Eddie Jackson, Darnell Mooney and Jaquan Brisker led the way for Chicago.
Here’s a look at the Madden 24 ratings for qualifying Bears wide receivers and safeties:
Despite winning just three games last, there’s plenty of optimism surrounding the Bears heading into 2023.
The Chicago Bears are coming off a 2022 season where they won just three games and lost 10 consecutive contests to end the year. Yet, you wouldn’t know it this offseason.
2023 feels like a year of optimism for the Bears because (*cue Elsa from Frozen) for the first time in forever, the Bears have expectations. Not necessarily championship expectations, but fans do expect this team to be fighting for a playoff spot in a wide open NFC.
With that in mind, here are four reasons why the Windy City faithful should be optimistic about the Bears in 2023:
There’s plenty of excitement surrounding this Bears rookie class. Here are the most intriguing rookies to watch at training camp.
The Chicago Bears have an intriguing 2023 rookie draft class, headlined by first-round offensive tackle Darnell Wright.
General manager Ryan Poles addressed a slew of needs with his 10 draft picks, where many of these rookies are expected to contribute immediately this season.
As the Bears prepare for training camp later this month, this class of rookies has a lot to prove and learn ahead of some valuable preseason action in August.
Here’s a look at the eight most intriguing Bears rookies to watch during training camp:
Bears rookie Tyler Scott is impressed with his new teammate DJ Moore, praising him as “everything advertised and more.”
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General manager Ryan Poles had taken an aggressive approach in adding talent to the Chicago Bears this offseason, bolstering the team through both free agency and the NFL draft in order to prepare the club for a more competitive year.
Poles had shaken the NFL world when he traded Chicago’s highly valuable first-overall pick for star Carolina Panthers wide receiver DJ Moore and other draft picks; a move that will inevitably make life much easier for quarterback Justin Fields.
It appears that Fields is not the only one who is already benefitting from Moore’s presence in Chicago, as the Bears’ fourth-round selection, wide receiver Tyler Scott, has been singing Moore’s praises in a recent interview with NBC Sports Chicago, in which he proclaims Moore is “everything advertised and more.”
"DJ Moore is everything advertised and more"
– Tyler Scott on the Under Center Podcast with Kenneth Davis and Josh Schrock
Full Under Center Podcast⬇️
🎧: https://t.co/rAGphWCni5
🎥: https://t.co/h9VOcl3SsJ pic.twitter.com/eQA8dSfFDD— Bears Talk (@NBCSBears) July 7, 2023
“DJ Moore, obviously, being a teammate, he, man, he’s everything advertised and more,” Scott said. “Like he plays with such a calmness to him, just the control to him. And you know, football players know, you know, kind of what that looks like. And he just kind of plays just under control. But it’s not necessarily like he’s playing slow or behind. He just kind of plays like he knows what he’s doing. You can tell he’s experienced in what he does.”
Scott continued to marvel at Moore’s skillset, particularly on how masterful – and deceitful – his route running is.
“I can watch one play and think like, oh, he’s about to run an in route, and it not look like an in route,” Scott said. “Or he’s about to run a different route but it looks exactly, you know, how it did before. So he just knows how to mirror things up and how to make everything look the same. And he just plays with such a suddenness, and just control about him.”
The Bears rookie summed up Moore’s overall ability in a way that will get every Bears fan excited to see Moore on the field every Sunday: “He’s just playing at a different level than everybody.”
Moore was one of the lone bright spots in an abysmal Panthers offense last year, catching 63 passes for 888 yards and hauling in seven touchdowns.
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Our next preview ahead of Bears training camp is wide receiver, which is a crowded room this summer.
Chicago Bears training camp is less than a month away, which means it’s time to start looking ahead at the roster the team is bringing to Lake Forest.
We’re unveiling our Bears 2023 training camp position previews, where we’re breaking down every player by position and examining the biggest question facing the group.
Up next is wide receiver, where Chicago made massive efforts to improve their receiving corps. First, they traded a second-round pick for Chase Claypool last year and then the first overall pick for DJ Moore.
After overhauling the wide receiver room, it’s become crowded at Halas Hall, with 12 players heading into training camp. Most teams only carry five wide receivers, at most six, so most of the guys on this list won’t be on the final roster.
With new faces on the roster, what will happen to players like Darnell Mooney and Velus Jones? Here’s a closer look at the Bears’ receivers heading into training camp:
