AZ54

Forgot to add that Bilal Nichols looks strong and he moved better than I expected. How quickly he can grow his skills into those of an NFL player could prove interesting given the battle we have for RDE. Or would the Bears keep him exclusively behind Hicks so Hicks get more snaps off?

I watched the game and tried to focus on a few players. Fitts ... first off he's more stout taking on blocks than I expected. Considering he was going against Orlando Brown Jr, who was considered a 1st Rd talent until he ran the slowest forty ever, Fitts had reasonably good competition to evalaute his play. I thought Fitts held his ground against the 6-8" 345lb RT and was able to use his speed to his advantage at times. It did appear as though Fitts had little pass rush plan at the snap but that's pretty much any rookie pass rusher. He looked agile in coverage too, able to turn and run. Overall he belongs on an NFL field and has some good long term potential. Irving ... it's hard to remember him from last year but it appears he's in better shape and a bit quicker off the snap. I don't recall much variation in pass rush as he seemed to rely on his speed to win the edge. When he won the edge he turned the corner but when engaged with the OT he offered little. He too has much work to do on his pass rush techniques but felt like he might be able to contribute in a backup role this year. Between him and Fitts I give Fitts the edge at this point in time but that's mostly because I see him having more potential. RRH vs. Bullard... Only noticed a couple plays by RRH and his bull rush for a sack IMO showed a lot of growth on that technique versus last year. For Bullard, all I can say is that against this level of competition I wish he would have been more noticeable. The camp battle continues. Wims... looks great on contested catches but unlike most I wish he didn't have to make so many contested catches. Outside of scheme getting him open I saw little to no separation and this was against players who won't be in the NFL this year. Tanner Gentry has the same issues but Wims is better going up high for the ball. Despite all the hype I still predict Wims makes the practice squad. Unless there is an injury, when it comes to WRs who is he going to beat for a roster spot? When you get to the 5th spot he will not beat out Josh Bellamy. People will say ah but he has better hands than Bellamy. True but he clearly doesn't have the speed for coverage teams that Bellamy has. Nall... He looks a little slow in his cuts. I did like how he handled pass protection blocks as he was tossing around blitzing DBs. Need to see more to evalaute him. Burton... It appears he worked on his agility this off-season because he seems a bit quicker in his cuts and he made at least one very difficult catch over his head, and almost had a second IIRC. At least they are difficult for a FB in those huge pads he's wearing. If the battle is between him and Nall for a roster spot it won't be settled until the end of preseason as it appears the coaches are giving Nall (based on his playing time) a good shot to learn the offense and let the best player win the job.

Not so sure about next year's first in that deal but the trade concept I like. Having to pay out one of the biggest contracts, if not the biggest, for a defensive player is a tough pill to swallow.

There are still a lot of timing and execution issues to iron out especially when you consider the volume of plays and especially all the read-options both WRs and QBs have depending on the what the defense does. Still it is good to hear that Trubisky has at least learned the playbook quickly. https://www.chicagobears.com/news/trubisky-exceeding-daniel-s-expectations

The league has created a system where it fines defensive players far more often than offensive players. For years defensive players have been fined while RBs and even WRs and QBs (Cam Newton) sometimes barreled head first into them. I'm not surprised at all to see players being more cautious when the league throws out some new rule even they can't properly explain.

I like this about Nagy. https://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/bears-training-camp-report-observations-analysis-eighth-practice/ Other observations After Mitch Trubisky threw interceptions to Nick Kwiatkoski, Prince Amukamara and Cre’Von LeBlanc, Nagy reiterated that he wasn’t concerned: “I love the fact that he’s trying to learn this offense and make throws. I’d rather him do that than take the five-yard check-down.’’ ----------------------------------- I haven't been to camp but on some of the videos it's obvious to me that Mitch is going to make the downfield throws. Every play we run seems to have a checkdown option. When you think back to Alex Smith who was known for playing it safe, it was Nagy who helped him open up his vision and make more deep passes the last couple seasons in KC. The only way to get comfortable and get the timing down is to throw the ball that way. We have 5 weeks of training camp, the first game is still about 40 days away. There is plenty of time to before the season starts.

I think Smith will end up the starter too but it doesn't hurt to see Kwit doing his part to make him work for it. Kwit may have worked on his coverage skills but I doubt he's that much faster and agile than last year. For plays up the middle Kwit will likely be better than Roquan but getting to the edge and in coverage will be Roquan's advantage. And the new helmet rule that Smith is reportedly arguing over is a really stupid rule. I understand player safety but you can't run if your head is not leaning in front of your body. There is no way you will ever tackle anyone coming straight at you if you don't lean forward. Or else you'll be getting run over which isn't exactly the safe way to take on contact. There's no more diving for the end zone either. That's illegal. Not only that, these athletes are too good to not ever have incidental contact around the head area when players are spinning and twisting for every yard. I think we can all rule out the obvious spearing issues. My preference would be to put a stripe or a line on the top of the helmet and any contact above the line (the crown of the head) is a penalty. This allows players to use good sound body leverage for tackling and when getting hit, and it will promote heads up football too. Incidental contact in the face mask or forehead area is still ok.

Yes, because they are not waiting for Martellus Bennett to walk back to the huddle.

In the meantime Kwiatkoski is making everyone watching training camp practicies forget Smith isn't on the field. It's reaching the point where it's no longer clear that Smith will be the starter.

Nice article on MIller's performance in camp as told mostly by our DBs. https://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/bears_receiver_anthony_miller_training_camp/

Thanks for the update.

Allen Robinson.. https://twitter.com/i/status/1022853811617128449

How much smoother is Jordan Howard as a receiver? This play is not a big deal but in years past he turned his body more toward the QB to make the catch then had to turn upfield and start running. https://twitter.com/i/status/1022848103613902848

I just like the fact that we run this drill... https://twitter.com/i/status/1021422316369203200

Slowly coming together on these deep routes...Trubisky has been throwing too short on most deep passes that I've seen. https://www.windycitygridiron.com/2018/7/27/17621296/chicago-bears-training-camp-live-stream-friday-open-thread-matt-nagy-ryan-pace-robert-zeglinski "Miller gets a step on Fuller and Trubisky lays it out on a platter for an easy deep TD. Sound day for the offense."

It's been one week and early reports from camp indicate (and this is just my sense of what I've read and seen on short video clips). Kevin White. He might not be in the elite category but he's running routes and playing well enough that he's going to see the field this year. Probably in a rotation with Gabriel although both can be on the field at the same time. Two years away from the game and it takes a long time to get back in the flow of things. In some recent video clips I see him starting to return to playing with that physical edge he had in college. There have been some drops but I believe as he plays more and more, especially as he gets hit and gains confidence in his body, that the catching ability will improve too. Of course he has to stay healthy but IMO he's on the right path. Anthony Miller. I have no idea how well he knows the offense and his routes/assignments but his route running is causing the DB's problems every day. It definitely appears that we drafted a very good player. I don't want to put hopes too high on him because he still has a lot of rookie learning to do but it seems clear he'll contribute this year. Gabriel ... he's been ok but he's still a player who needs the scheme to help him. Fortunately when you see the above players looking good it means there will be solid opportunities for him each game. Trubisky... his passes still look to me like they are too mechanical. I just think he's still processing all the offense. Some are criticizing him but one day you see lots of 2/3 TE sets the next day it's 4 WRs with 3 of them bunched up on one side. He has a ton of route combinations to get comfortable with. I also believe Nagy is at times telling him to go deep. That has led to some forced throws but he needs to get the timing down on these deep routes. We have 5 weeks of camp and even then early in the season I'm sure we'll see some hesitation. Overall I think he's doing well to get even a basic grasp of all that's being thrown at him. Reportedly some of our plays calls are 14 or 15 words long. James Daniels is still 2nd string behind Kush. However, more quietly it seems Jordan Morgan is playing well. He pancaked Goldman yesterday although I didn't see it so who knows the real deal. The bigger point is he's going against the 1's on defense. With all this I'm starting to feel we'll have some good depth on the interior of the oline this season. Haven't heard anything good about our OTs and a few bad words about Leno have been tossed around here and there. Cohen... he is going to get some 1on1 chances this year and he'll make teams pay for it. To no one's surprise he looks very good in this scheme. Howard is catching the ball and, more importantly, is looking like it's natural for him. He often works after practice catching passes. Cunningham and Mizzell ... neither has stood out to date although it depends on who's doing the talking. I"m not very confident in our 3rd string here. If Cunningham struggles Mizzell could win the job because he's the better receiver. Shaheen...he's quicker and more agile and it shows on pass routes. Ryan Nall is starting to turn some heads. Is he a FB or H-back? He may be someone to keep an eye on in the last couple preseason games as the battle for the last few roster spots shapes up. Defense: Floyd has looked good in pass rush. Or is that Leno has looked bad in pass pro? Seems to be more Floyd here. Kylie Fitts is turning heads already. With our lack of proven depth at OLB we really need someone to surprise us and play well this year. Kyrie Irving is also improved over last year. I'd summarize things as that he does not look like he's starter material but it seems he might someone who can contribute this year. Amukamara and Fuller are winning a lot of battles and getting turnovers. Overall the secondary is good. Deon Bush is getting some good press from lots of sources at camp. Kwiatkoski is playing well but we await the return of Trevathan and of course Roquan Smith joining the team.

I don't think I said he couldn't become a core player on the team. I don't believe he is that right now but I think he's a good player. I'm not one to think we need Pro Bowl players at every position to win the Superbowl and iMO it's a good idea to re-sign good players that fit your scheme, and are who fit the character you want among teammates in the locker room. Amos is ok in coverage but he's not great. Nor do I think he ever will be very good in coverage. He's just not that type of quick-twitch change-of-direction athlete. As long as he is sound in his assignments and technique he can be in position to prevent big plays, and maybe get the occasional pass-defensed, which is mainly what he does in coverage. On the other hand he's very physical and good at his reads in the box. All of which makes him a good player to keep around iMO and he won't be that expensive. There's been very little talk here about training camp but this year Deon Bush is starting to play well. Like everyone else, Amos can see that too so he's starting to lose a bit of leverage. Of course that could also be changing Pace's thoughts on an extension which was reportedly floated around earlier in the offseason. The prevailing thoughts in years past was that we had to go to FA to replace a starter but we might finally be seeing a change in that pattern. I still think Pace prefers to get the bigger deal for Goldman out of the way first before he moves forward on discussions with Amos. That could change quickly if Amos comes to the table with a proposal Pace likes.

By the way nobody noticed that bit about Goldman weighing in at just 318lbs. He's been off the radar of the media and fans but at that weight he should be quicker and have better endurance.

Amos IMO is not what you'd call a core player but he's a good player and while we are searching for our core players (possibly Eddie Jackson down the road) we should keep good players on the roster. I don't want to be the winner in cap space every year.

This was talked about in the off-season and then it got shelved when we went after big targets in FA. I"m glad to hear it's back on the table and hopefully something gets done soon. When this is done it'd be nice to see the Bears extend Amos as well. https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/bears/bears-working-re-sign-goldman-factor-linchpin-their-top-10-defense

I agree about the offense and inconsistencies early on. At this point I'm looking at the concepts we're practicing not so much execution. So far we're hearing about a fair amount of 2 and 3 TE sets with a wide variety of routes being run by Sims, Shaheen, and Burton. Everyone is getting in on the act. Yet in some of the practice video today we see a lot of bunched up WR sets, 3 or 4 WRs on the field. All this is a lot for Trubisky to process and then get comfortable with all those route runners. I think we'll need to rely on the big plays early in the season and especially in week 1 against GB. Fortunately we have plenty of options among our skill players to create big plays. Green Bay will know to prepare for KC/Philly's offense but they really won't know where Cohen will line up and what routes he'll be running. Does your NB cover Kevin White or Taylor Gabriel when they break the huddle? After they shift? Yet we still have a strong running game behind Jordan Howard.

This is something I don't recall seeing last year. We have Isaiah Irving, an OLB, lined up very wide in coverage responsibility yet he blitzes off the edge. Meanwhile Kylie Fitts drops into coverage on a TE. I realize this is all backups but with Lynch hobbled again on his 3rd injury since signing with the Bears (he seems destined to take McPhee's place) these two are the leading replacements. Fitts is clearly comfortable in his backpedal and cutting underneath the route. Irving adjusts into a Wide 9 alignment before the snap but is too easily pushed around the QB, of course they aren't in pads. Fangio appears to be mixing it up a bit with the younger and faster OLBs. https://twitter.com/i/status/1021394079672930304

Just looking at a few photos and some of the early parts of camp a few players standout. First is a leaner but hopefully stronger Adam Shaheen. Leonard Floyd looks like he's finally added enough bulk to be a more consistent threat as a pass rusher but he's still lean and should still have his quickness. Tarik Cohen is definitely stronger this season too. We'll see how this translates to their play on the field. Today is the first open day of practice so we'll get plenty of reports. https://www.chicagobears.com/photos/practice-snaps-training-camp-day-1#ec7f2489-aacd-44df-b1dd-1c73e5a99151

Excellent news with Kyle Long and Allen Robinson https://www.chicagobears.com/news/no-bears-expected-to-open-camp-on-pup-list

He's a no-show at training camp. Veterans haven't arrived yet so not an official holdout. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000940502/article/roquan-smith-not-at-start-of-camp-with-bears-rookies