AZ54

Watched the 1st half with a fair amount of slo-mo on some plays. Cornelius Washington has already made the 53. He was unblockable and it didn't matter when he was in the 1st quarter or the 2nd quarter. You often heard the names of other players who got the tackle or deflected pass but it was Washington's early pressure up the middle that forced the action. Keep in mind this is his first game ever as a DT, there is nothing but arrow pointing up here. Now I understand why he was out there so early in the 1st quarter. Might be time to say goodbye to Will Sutton as I'm not sure he's a fit at NT. Staying with the Cornelius theme: Cornelius Edison did well. He wasn't great but for his first shot on the big stage among all the backup Oline players out there in the 2nd quarter he belonged in the NFL. I look forward to seeing how he progresses over the next few games. Leonard Floyd belongs on the field. I expected he'd struggle at times, and he did, but overall he showed enough flashes that I think given a year to learn the job he'll be just fine next season. In the meantime he'll be contributing to some big plays this season. Did he split a double team in the 1st quarter to get pressure on the QB? Yes he did and that was nice to see from the guy lacking strength. Whitehair played most of the 2nd quarter at C. He can play there but was clearly uncomfortable. It will be interesting to see how they handle this moving forward. Is it because they prefer Whitehair at C and Larsen at LG? Or was this just a look to see how Whitehair can handle the backup role vs. Edison? Hoyer didn't get much time to throw on many occasions but when he did he often showed why he's no longer a starter in the NFL. There's a lot of moving pieces on the 2nd unit including Oline and he's learning a new system so I hope to see progress over the next few games. Kevin White is going to make us smile. We didn't get to see much but on at least one play either a LB or S tried to jam him about 3 yards off the line and lost the battle. That was on the early 3rd and 3 where Cutler got sacked. By the way, the sack was caused by a TE or FB (can't recall if it was #47 or #49) getting pushed into a bad crossing route from the right side and almost running into Jeffrey. Jeffrey was wide open coming from the left side but had to cutoff his route and cut back toward the LOS to avoid the collision. Otherwise Cutler throws to Jeffrey as he started to do for the 1st down. Bausby didn't show well but it was his first game. Athletically he can handle the role. Mentally he has a way to go. Callahan looks good. I know he blew a coverage and gave up a TD but until he broke off the coverage he was right there step for step with Thomas. Why he was out there and Porter sitting on the bench is a bit of a mystery. It might just be that he is going to be our backup outside CB. Might be there is more competition there than we're being told. Fuller looked good too. He didn't have passes defended but he was right there on plays in his area. I didn't see the same loose play that we saw early last season. I do not miss SMC. Freeman missed a tackle but he is quick to the spot he needs to be in. We are going to see a world of difference at ILB with him and Trev. From what little I saw Christian Jones he looked good at OLB. Maybe he has found a home? He'll be competing against Acho and this battle will certainly play out at OLB and on special teams. Acho looked better than I remember from last year. It's early but whichever one it is, it feels like the last OLB spot will be filled by a better player than it was last year. Braverman still has some things to learn on his route running at the NFL level. I'm betting he'll learn it quickly. Did anyone mention Charles Leno? I don't think so. Knowing the score and reading some of the reviews as I started to watch I expected to see a really bad performance. I found it to be more of the opposite. I saw a solid and consistent pass rush from the Dline/OLB. I saw LBs making quick reads and making first contact around the LOS. I saw DBs right there (aside from the one TD) when passes were made. So it appears we have guys who know their assignments but they are young or new to the roster and just a half step slow to analyze where to be. Despite the mistakes here and there the offense wasn't completely inept either. They have more to work than the D but I think given some of the recent shuffling of the Oline we'll see improvement soon. TE still remains a mystery.

Floyd of course. De'Vante Bausby. He's come from nowhere to being listed as backup to Fuller. At 6'2" he has the length we want in a press corner and he's made a lot of good plays in camp. Cornelius Edison. Heard good things about him as our backup Center. Is he good enough to end up on the 53? Or are we still searching for help on the OL? WR behind the top 3: Braverman, Thompson, Mariani, Bellamy

If he is healthy enough to play this is a great signing. After seeing a couple other OL retire on us it's hard to be confident. Losing Grasu is significant but if it plays out as we hope we now have Silatolu as backup OG, and Adams as the backup OT. I've seen some good words about Cornelius Edison who is our backup C. I doubt he's ready to play in the NFL but he might end up part of the final 8 to stick on the roster.

There is no love for the Bears anywhere in the media.

That was a good post. Bennett + Romo = no Pro Bowls Bennett + Eli Manning = no Pro Bowls Bennett + Cutler = 1 Pro Bowl So yes Cutler was clearly the worst of his career QBs.

Here's Loggains on what being open really means... http://www.chicagobears.com/news/article-1...2c-829c4ba965b8 "He just has to understand to continue to grow and get open in the timing of the play and not just when the route's at 10 [yards], break it off at six [because] he's open, so the quarterbacks get a better feel for him. As he grows and learns what each play means and the concepts and the timing of each play, he'll continue to grow that way." That was his comment regarding Braverman but when I hear Bennett say I was open and then I remember some of those crazy INTs Cutler threw towards Bennett I can't recall any other player Cutler was more "off' target with than Bennett. Forget the bad throws into coverage, these INT were clearly Cutler goes here Bennett goes there. There was no other starter on offense Cutler was more out of sync with than Bennett. Even backups like Mariani who came in late and got reps in the slot was in the right spot quite often late year to bail Cutler out on many 3rd down throws. While that was happening Bennett was quietly being demoted in the red zone because he didn't run routes correctly (in favor of Miller) and eventually shut down by the coaches who didn't want to deal with his BS anymore. I know there were some injury concerns but we were still fighting to stay in the hunt late in the season. Then we traded him for a bag of peanuts, and the entire league knows what that means. His brother comes to his rescue and blames Cutler for his brother's issues. How convenient. It was probably Cutler's fault Bennett got into that fight with Fuller in Trestman's last training camp. Trestman was the last man to discipline anyone and he kicked Bennett out of training camp. And people say Cutler has the bad attitude. http://profootballspot.com/index.html/nfl/...-bennett-r3533/

I don't think Royal is going anywhere because we're not going to rely on 2 unproven guys at the slot. Next year could be a different story. Right now Thompson, Mariani, and especially Braverman are doing some good things in camp.

It appears we're serious about keeping a FB on the final roster. With the lack of blocking TEs on the roster, Scruggs being the only apparently decent inline blocker of the group, this probably makes sense. This will be one battle to watch play out during the preseason games.

Very surprised to hear good things about Braverman this early. We'll see if he earns some time with the 1's next week.

Willie is a good guy, both as a player and as a person. Cleary he's what Fox wants in his veteran players. I never expected he'd fit into this new system but he proved me wrong late last year but I'm glad we have him around a couple more years.

At this point in his career I have no interest in bringing him back as a returner. If nobody else signs him and he wants to retire as a Bear that would be great. Then we let the Hall of Fame discussion begin in 5 years time.

That was my favorite memory in part because I live here in the Phoenix area. What a fun week that was after the game.

Pace is really sticking to his plan to rebuild with youth. I'm expecting some good things from this year's rookie class. I don't predict stars but feel confident we have many who will show they belong on an NFL field. If that holds true then this contract situation gives Pace the ability to long-term sign the right players once he knows who they are.

If there was nothing behind this such as a suspension or police incident then this is a very good sign we don't need him. He won't offer depth as a DB. Other return options like Braverman should be productive as a WR.

There is not much to get excited about but if he is healthy Silatolu will provide very good competition for the interior line. I don't know the extent of his last knee injury or even if it was the same knee as his first injury. All I can say is that whoever ends up as our backup players on the Oline they should be more talented than Ducasse or Omameh. http://bearswire.usatoday.com/2016/07/20/i...offensive-line/ Also in that article is a line about Grasu not being on solid ground as the starting C. Nothing too new here as Ramirez was being asked to push Grasu for the starting job but it does make clear that our best 5 Oline are going to start.

..and so it shall be: http://bearswire.usatoday.com/2016/07/20/c...a-chicago-bear/

Love the video! http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/17102480...nut-punch-video

No. I'm glad Pace refused to overpay. Jeffrey's performance overall does not put him in the elite group of WRs. Yes having him on the field makes us a much better team but Jeffrey refuses to participate with the team in the offseason. Even his trainer publicly criticized the Bears (at least NFL teams in general) for their training methods. That's the same trainer who got Jeffrey in shape last year and we saw how well that worked out. Last season it was pretty clear that Jeffrey was not doing what he should have done off the field with the training staff to stay in shape or get healthy again. A player wants the organization to commit to him while he refuses to commit to the organization. I understand all the injury concerns with practicing in voluntary OTAs but that does not prevent Jeffrey from training in Chicago and being around the team to check in with the training staff on occasion. Kyle Long trains in Arizona but he managed to make it all work out. I prefer to put big money toward players like Long who exemplify what Fox wants on and off the field. If Jeffrey performs well we can tag him again next year and try to work on a deal. We can also tag him and trade him. If he plays well this year (not even lights out well) we'd get at least a 3rd Rd pick but more likely a 2nd Rd pick for him. If he plays well that might go as high as a late 1st Rd pick. OTOH if he ends up missing games again this year due to injury his price tag will come down to our range. Then we can decide if we still want to deal with these injuries every year as he gets older. If the injury trend continues the games missed for each injury increase as a player gets older.

Please elaborate on those facts about Gase in Miami. At least for me (very tired after a 14hr day) I'm not sure how to interpret this.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap300000067...er-or-solid-wr1 I think his analysis is spot on.

I'm going with 2 levels on this. Rookies and vets Rookies/Defense: Bullard Went back and forth a bit between Roy Robert-Harris and Bullard but I think Bullard is far more prepared to step in and play today. He has more quickness and more length than Sutton and he takes his place in the rotation. I think Ferguson takes the early snaps, both in early season games and on early downs later in the season, as Bullard settles into the NFL but when we need pass rush I think Bullards stands out among our Dline. Rookie/Offense: Braverman This kid is a hard worker who takes nothing for granted. I don't think he takes Royal's place but with Wilson injured I think he takes Mariani's spot and gets reps as our 4th WR. Versatility matters deep down the roster so he'll also earn this via punt and kick returns. Vet/Defense: Bryce Callahan We're rebuilding so many vets on this team are in just their 2nd season. Bryce Callahan. He flashed a lot of good plays last year and when he was the field the entire defense looked better. I think this year everyone comes to understand how valuable he is to our roster. Vet/Offense: Charles Leno I can't say I'm 100% confident in Leno but there were quite a few times where he matched up well against good competition last year. If one thing was made clear last year it is that Cutler is the key to all things on offense. The team trusted Leno enough to not go after a LT early (or at all) in the draft bringing in just a journeyman to be his competition. I think he shows us that trust from the front office was warranted.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap300000067...n-longterm-deal It is now close to crunch time and we'll soon know what happens. Based on this report it seems Jeffrey's agent has released that the Bears are not offering anything close to what Jeffrey wants. It appears the Bears are settled in around $12mil/yr and Jeffrey wants much more. I presume that is around $14mil/yr. Earlier in the offseason I put Jeffrey's value around $12mil/yr but these things often take on odd trajectories. I don't see Jeffrey belonging among the top 5 at all (obviously he's there at the moment based on the Franchise deal). I think he belongs somewhere among 6-10. Hilton sits at the top there but has the smallest guaranteed money followed by Baldwin with a similar deal. If the Bears are offering around $12mil/yr I'd say they are right where they should be and the bigger discussion is the guaranteed money. Jeffrey deserves more than 1yr (amount of annual salary) guaranteed IMO. How much more? I still think both sides will come to a deal but it will see the Bears able to move on after three, perhaps just two, seasons. That would mean a guarantee of around $24-25mil. Probably going to see the Bear want offseason workout guarantees too. From www.overthecap.com here's the list of WR $/yr: 1) AJ Green $15mil/yr with $26.7mil guaranteed 2) Jeffrey $14.6mil/yr with $14.6 1 year deal 3) Julio Jones $14.2mil/yr with $35.5mil 4) D. Thomas $14mil/yr with $35mil 5) Dez Bryant $14mil/yr with $32mil 6) Ty Hilton $13mil/yr with $11mil 7) Doug Baldwin $11.5mil/yr with $12mil 8) Keenan Allen $11.24mil/yr with $20.6mil 9) V. Jackson $11.1mil/yr with $26mil 10) Fitzgerald $11mil/yr with $22mil 11) Maclin $11mil/yr with $22.5mil 12) Allen Hurns $10mil/yr with $16mil 13) R. Cobb $10mil/yr with $13mil 14) J. Nelson $9.7mil/yr with $11mil

After the surprising selection of Callahan as the 7th best NB in the NFL by SI.com now we have Ike Taylor naming Fuller and Porter as the 5th best CB tandem in the league. I happen to like Ike, although I don't always agree with his analysis. While this doesn't mean either is a top 10 CB it is at least an indication that there was some good steady play on both corners in the 2nd half of the season. The merry-go-round at SS and lack of good play at ILB last year certainly didn't help either of our CBs. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap300000067...nerback-tandems There were plenty of plays late in the season where I thought Porter was playing too far off his man but perhaps he was just shading a bit toward Prosinski or HJQ to help them out, try to prevent the big play? Maybe that was the plan going into the game? In any case our starting CBs have gotten some surprising respect this offseason. With the new ILB crew and some better players up front I'm looking forward to see how this all comes together.

I thought he played well last year and it was noticeable when he was out of the lineup late in the season. I still think we needed an upgrade at CB somewhere in the offseason but on the other hand this roster had so many holes it was impossible to fill them all. I'm glad Pace didn't over-spend on the FA CBs that were out there. Better to let the young guys we have develop and see what shakes out than to commit too much money to someone near the end of their career and who may not fit the culture we want.

I don't think it's as simple as just give a guy more reps. How then do we explain the bottom half of the league's starting QBs for which teams are always looking for replacements? I truly believe if a guy has talent he'll very quickly rise to 2nd string player. There he gets enough reps to show what he can do. Maybe not enough to be as proficient as the starter but if he truly has starting potential you're going to see it especially if you're starting QB is struggling. Every offseason we find backups and a couple starting QBs available. In 2016 it was RGIII, EJ Manuel, Kap, Chase Daniel, Drew Stanton, Fitzpatrick, Osweiller. Fitzpatrick has shown he can be a decent starter/backup yet he's still on the market. Despite many starter reps among that group nobody was kicking the door down to get one of them signed except for Osweiller. 2015 had: Jake Locker, Mallett, Mark Sanchez, Matt Moore, Hoyer, Shaun Hill, Josh McCown, Tebow, Clausen, Ponder, Tarvaris Jackson, Matt Schaub, Gabbert, Colt McCoy, and others. Once in a blue moon someone finds a 3rd string guy who can be a starter (i.e. Warner, Romo). Despite that there are far more big money failures when signing backups to be a starter: Matt Flynn, Charlie Whitehurst,