AZ54

After watching the 2nd half against the Patriots some of the depth at CB played better than I expected. I haven't had a chance to see Bausby or Glenn much. Even Porter came out and said we're good with the players we have. Maybe we let the youth learn.

Upon further review (as in 2nd half) Greg Scruggs is a very good inline blocker. I haven't seen much of what he can do catching the ball but Cutler says he can be effective there. We have two more games to evaluate but he should not be written off from the TE competition. Bullard so quick he is usually 2yds upfield ahead of every other Dline, including Floyd. As he learns the NFL and where plays are headed, he's going to make some big plays for us. Competition is not over but based on what I saw against NE, if we keep 6 OLB, I'll take Robertson-Harris to win a roster spot instead of Christian Jones. Jones disappears on run downs getting moved around by TEs, OTs. In pass rush Jones sometimes gets there. On the other hand, RRH held up well against the run and flashed equally well as Jones in the pass rush. Consider the time he missed in camp he's got a lot of catching up to do but if he can contribute as well as Jones on special teams (not a high bar there) I think RRH's upside wins the day. Dline competition. I still see Ferguson on the outside looking in. The more I watched the less he did. As the 3rd/4th quarter wore on Browner still looked like the more consistent player over Sutton/Ferguson. This is only if we keep a 6th DT. Cornelius Edison continues to show that he can play in the NFL. Not sure if he'll make the final cut and that may depend on if we pickup someone else with experience. If not I think he's headed to the practice squad. He's got good feet and carries blocks at the 2nd level well. Fox also mentioned that he played well so that can't hurt. Braverman ran better routes and was open quite a few times but Hoyer refused to look his way. Hoyer was too locked in on the first read almost every play. Hoyer should have a lot more practice reps with both Bellamy, and even Thompson who were ahead of Braverman early in camp. If Braverman practiced well this past week you can bet the Patriots took notice.

This is interesting. I would say Cro's price has come down enough that Pace will talk to him plus we haven't seen much from our young CBs (at least I haven't). With Fuller on the shelf for a few weeks it might be worthwhile to bring in a proven vet who can step in right away and play better than any of the backups behind Callahan. Perhaps more importantly is that it would keep Callahan inside where we have even less depth. The question then becomes one of filling out the special teams roster but I think we've seen enough goodness on special teams from a lot of depth players that they can figure out how to get around that if they choose to. http://www.windycitygridiron.com/2016/8/19...cromartie-today

He didn't even play a snap this week and yet Washington still got some favorable reviews. From what I've seen into the first couple games, on 3rd and long I envision one very good NASCAR package (or whatever you want to call it) with Young, McPhee, Floyd, Washington, and Bullard. And with Floyd's ability to drop into coverage we can keep the offense guessing what we're doing before the snap. ------------------------------- http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/footb...0819-story.html I do know this: Washington created a buzz among scouts who went through tape of the loss to the Broncos. He played well and my instincts tell me the Bears know it as much as the other teams. Barring something unforeseen, I see Washington not only making the roster but he could potentially challenge for time in the rotation at defensive end.

AT this point I've only seen the 1st half and a bit of the 3rd quarter. Overall this was a different team than what we saw last week. Offense was solid moving the ball although there are still some mistakes to clean up. Defense was likewise solid despite having several young backups among the 1st string (ILB, CB). Offense RB Langford: I've never seen him display so much patience in his reads. Something changed this week for the better. I don't know if it's just result of the 3 days of practice against the same team or has it finally clicked for him. Definitely want to see more of this in Week 3 but at this point it seems clear he's the starter so I don't think he'll get a lot of reps in the next game as they try to sort out who should be #2 and #3. Behind Langford I've seen Rodgers and he hasn't done much of note. QB: Cutler was solid in his reads and working the pocket (outside it too). There's more to come from this offense but we need to stay run first. Hoyer threw the INT on his first toss and I think he should have held the ball just a tick longer to see the route develop. However, the CB knew what was coming and made a break back into the ball well before Bellamy did. Plus Bellamy ran a poor route and didn't push back the defender, and/or was very slow in/out of the break. Overall Hoyer looked more comfortable this week than last. Oline: Good performance overall but there are still gaps. Some are expected. Massie will always struggle with speed on the edge but for the most part he kept Chris Long in check. He made up for in the run game which is also to be expected. Whitehair got off balance a bit and gave up a sack on Cutler. He'll learn from that but for the most part this guy appears to be a very good draft pick for us. I watched Leno on quite a few plays and he's solid. He's a little better against speed than Massie, less good on run blocks but i thought he did well enough. I've only seen a handful of plays with the 2nd string Oline but whoever is out is playing better than what we saw last week. Still some gaps in assignment responsibilities but not seeing the guys on roller-skates like we saw last week. WRs: I'm good with Jeffrey and White. Haven't seen much at this point from anyone else. Dline: Our starters are good and we're still missing our best player in McPhee. McPhee does appear to be making progress toward returning soon but we won't see him until at best Week 1 and if then it will be limited snaps. Hicks, Goldman aren't going anywhere, literally. I don't care who is blocking them. That wall made it tough on the Patriots on a few plays. Bullard keeps showing some flashes with his ability to quickly push the pocket. He's lacking some strength to get a counter move but it's common to see him 2 yards into the backfield, and then get stuck. Considering the 53 man roster my top 5 DTs from what I've seen in the first two games: Goldman, Hicks, Unrein (solid but unspectacular), Bullard, Washington Behind them it is a battle among: Sutton, Ferguson, Browner, and Williams. Fox had all of these guys out there in the 2nd quarter (when the Patriots offense started looking better). Nobody stands out from what I saw but on various plays Sutton and Browner had some good stops or at least affected the play with good penetration. If there is a 6th DT spot I'd say those two are in the lead for it. Ferguson was man-handled all night and just didn't do anything noticeable. Williams is ok, but he can go to the practice squad. Right now I like the upside of Browner, on a few plays he displayed some good quickness off the snap and he's a bit longer than Sutton which helps him get off blocks better. He and Williams both had a key play on the goal line stand late in the 2nd quarter. Really any of these four could win a spot in the last two games. ILB: Freeman is a stud and his tackling, where he missed a couple last week, was much improved. Can't wait to see him beside Trev. The backups didn't do much of note but last years backups (Timu, Anderson) are playing better. Timu's limited athleticism shows up on too many occasions for me even if I like how he plays the game. OLB: I like Willie Young. He's getting home early and often in his pass rush even if he's not flashy in how he does it. Houston is ok too but pass rush isn't as effective. Floyd continues to flash in spots and they keep using him as the 3rd LB often, and sometimes he gets locked up by a blocker. Despite that he is Fangio's chess piece because when we go to a 4-3 alignment he's off the LOS as a LB. Teams won't be able to key on personnel/scheme with him out there so we can just as easily use him in a 3-4 alignment. Anyone expecting Von Miller-esque performance from Floyd is his first year will be complaining, but IMO he's shown enough that I feel confident he'll make some good plays for us this year. He definitely needs a year to get the strength to do all he wants to do on the field but despite that, even now his feet and leverage are good enough to set the edge on run downs. Martellus Bennett found that out. Be patient with him as we were with Goldman last year and i think we'll find ourselves with a very good OLB/pass rusher down the road. CBs: nothing much to see here. Porter causing the fumble was about the only highlight. The backups who filled in for Callahan and Fuller aren't challenging for playing time right now. Hall came crashing down to earth after all the media hype last week. S: I didn't key on them much but I felt like both Amos and HJQ were solid, especially given some of the sporadic CB play. They are getting more comfortable in their assignments. Prosinski is playing much better than he did last year and I still see him making plays in special teams coverage. I expect he'll make the final roster. Special teams coverage is already markedly better than anything we saw early on last season. Watching Garapolo tell M. Bennett where to lineup and what to do after a huddle break was a good reminder why he is no longer in Chicago. I doubt NE will pay him what he wants next year and he'll end up elsewhere.

More positive reviews... http://www.profootballweekly.com/2016/08/1...actice/arlsvca/

Floyd continues his progress up in New England... http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/colum...816-column.html "No. 94 is a real talent for Chicago," one AFC personnel man wrote in an unprompted text Friday morning. "His flashes were strong."

If you are curious about what caused the Jeffrey:Butler fight it was a Bears TD. http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-network-tota...wap_generic_nfl

He's learning, and quickly, as Malcolm Butler found out. It's impossible to quantify but I believe this week will prove very beneficial to the Bears on offense and defense this season. http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/kevin-w...-physical-ways/ --------------------------------------- FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Bears receiver Kevin White lost. And everyone saw it. Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler, a Pro Bowl player last season, cut off White’s route by being physical at the line of scrimmage and then jumping his break inside. Because it came during one-on-one drills, quarterback Jay Cutler threw the ball away, an early incompletion that garnered cheers from the Patriots’ faithful in the stands on the first day of joint practices Monday at Gillette Stadium. White’s response, though, said much more. He won the second round by muscling through Butler’s aggression, gaining separation with his size and a cut outside and coming back to the ball for a completion. --------------------------------------- Read the rest to see how White is learning his options for dealing with various types of coverage.

I can't be upset about either of these: http://www.windycitygridiron.com/2016/8/15...nnett-tom-brady "Guys, I think George McCaskey might be a bad-ass. "I just happened to be standing right there.” McCaskey nonchalantly said after practice. “It was no big deal." When asked what compelled him to get in between the two pro athletes, McCaskey added, "To protect our guy." Then later Lamar Houston puts Bennett on his backside: "Now a small scrum after a FG. Martellus Bennett, former #Bear, pushed to the ground by Lamar Houston. Chippy practice"

Floyd is getting some 1st team reps. http://www.espn.com/blog/chicago-bears/pos...onathan-bullard I was impressed by what he did in his first game. He looks the part of a good outside rusher and he was physical enough with the OTs to take advantage of his quickness at times. In the 3rd quarter he tossed aside the RT creating a clear lane to the QB. The ball was released before he could close the play. While he's not the strongest it seems the coaches are teaching how to use his speed and quickness to get into players before they are set. I realize that's not top OT competition but neither is it something Floyd was supposed to be capable of against anyone. He was also lined as the 3rd LB (4-3 front) on at least one play and covered the TE out of the slot. That's something I've seen in a couple training camp highlights and he certainly doesn't have much competition for that role among the OLB. Given how NE runs their offense he'll get a lot of work in this role this week. I'm not putting him in the Pro Bowl but any thoughts I had of him needing some sort of a redshirt year to get acclimated to the NFL are far removed now. I think he'll contribute and make some plays for us this year.

Perhaps you mean paid more attention (or spent more) on it. In FA we signed Bobbie Massie, Ted Larsen, then Ramirez, and Chandler who both retired. Those last two are the spots we're really hurting. We did drafted Whitehair in Rd 2 and we were reliant upon Grasu (last year's 3rd Rd pick) at least being n the mix to start or being a solid backup OC. I think the biggest question has always been the lack of attention toward backup OT. Other than that they brought in several veterans and given their resumes we should have come out of this with a couple good backup interior players. It is hard to be confident but we now have 4 veterans competing for backup spots: Adams, Silatolu, and just added Holmes and Shelley. Lots of question marks among all these players. This competition will run all the way through the 4th quarter of the last preseason game. Even then we might add someone else.

Coaches and GM saw what we saw and two Oline were released today: Cut: Buchholz, Williams both looked seriously overmatched in the first game Signed: Khaled Holmes C, 17 games, 9 starts with Colts , Shelley Smith OG, played in 36 games

I agree, if this continues into the next game and the 3rd game we have issues. Do you know if Silatolu was out there at all? I haven't watched the 2nd half.

Yes we watched the same game but with different perspectives. I learned years ago to not consider the team effort in the first preseason game. Last year in our first preseason game we won 27-10. In week 2 we beat the Colts 23-11. How'd that work out for us? The Broncos were blitzing from everywhere in Week 1, we have a lot of new pieces on the Oline, including our Center. We're not scheming or game planning for this so I'm just not going to get too negative on that. I prefer to watch individual players and how they a) handle their individual assignments (at least what I think is their assignment do they know who to block, who to cover, etc. how they match up physically with the competition. Can they run with WRs? Can they hold their ground at the point of attack (DT)? It wasn't all good. The only backup Oline I thought could do either a or b was Edison and he had some rough spots. Not exactly a good sign for us overall but as our backup Center I think Edison has a shot to make it on the 53. Whitehair could do both a and b at LG. He struggled a bit at Center with his assignments but to me looked like he handled the physical side of playing Center for us (he's athletic enough). He was just thrown into the fire at Center with very little practice. Considering all that I like his upside there even if this is just getting him a bit settled to be our backup C behind Larsen. Floyd looked a bit mechanical in his motions but he admits he was focused on his assignments and technique. Nonetheless he showed up on several plays. I take that as a good sign. On the TD pass Callahan gave up Sanchez faced a blitz that got home very quickly. He threw up a prayer to Thomas who had to stop in the end zone to catch it. It was not an accurate pass at all and if Callahan stays on his assignment his 43" vertical jump gives him a very good chance to stop that TD. I think Callahan improved a lot as the season wore on last year. In this game he was in a new spot he hasn't practiced as much yet overall he still did well. Other than that breakdown he had both his assignment and matched up well physically with Thomas. I now feel like he can be a good backup to Porter/Fuller if needed but he'll need a few more games of experience for it to be at the level we need. What else should we expect with such a young roster? Kevin White...we didn't see much of him on routes but his athleticism was on full display to gain 3 yards out of nothing. I am less enamored with Hall than what I see in the media. I saw a guy who was a step too slow and will get beaten by faster WRs, or better QBs. IMO he was helped out by a few short throws that allowed him to get back in the play. It was his first NFL experience so it's normal to see a player react slower. In the next few games I hope to see him with more quickness to turn with WRs as they move upfield. I am not worried about players like Goldman Hicks, Long, Jeffrey, etc. There's no reason to think they won't be there when it counts. Speaking of Goldman, remember the long path he took to being a good DT for us. He wasn't burning it up in the preseason, or even in the first few games last year. Yet he developed. I saw good things from Bullard but I expect he'll take a similar path this season as what Goldman took last year. Coaching. Last year this team often started out so slow in so many games and yet the coaching was evident throughout and you saw our performance improve. That was both with numerous injuries and backup players sometimes off the street (i.e. DT). I have on reason to think this won't hold true again this year. Loggains is the biggest question mark but he has a veteran HC overseeing him, a HC who has proven his ability to develop young coordinators, and he has some very good position coaches underneath him. I really like our draft this year but I have no reason to think those kids will jump right in during Week 1 and make us a playoff team. We might get to that point in the 2nd half of the season. For now I saw quite a few young players who look like they belong on the field, meaning they can match up physically to the competition. That's Pace's job. Overall the assignment discipline wasn't that bad among those youngsters and that's Fox's job. Just like Goldman, Grasu, Langford, and Amos, I think they'll just get better as they continue to work. Last reason to be optimistic....24hrs later and still nobody is talking about Charles Leno!

Hoyer threw one pass to Braverman that should have never been thrown. Braver man was on an out route about 10yards downfield. Meanwhile Carey was running a wheel route up the sideline and Hoyer threw right into the mesh point. Carey's defender came off his man and tipped the ball in front of Braverman, fortunately it bounced and ended up Carey's arms for a decent gain. Even in flag football QBs know not to throw into a place where two WR are headed because bad things can happen. It's an indication Hoyer was locked onto Braverman and didn't pickup (or know) the route Carey was running. OTOH I'm sure Loggains didn't design the play this way so either one of the receivers ran the wrong route, or Hoyer threw the ball way too late. Later he overthrew a wide open Thompson in the middle of the field by about 5ft. If the ball didn't slip out of his hands this is a classic sign of a QB who short-stepped into the throw. With no pressure in his face and enough years to work on his fundamentals that I don't expect to see this kind of mistake from him. If Cutler had thrown that pass to Braverman would you be here criticizing him for it? By the way, check your history to see which current Bears' QB has gotten his team further in the playoffs. You'd be impressed to know that Hoyer took his team to the NFC Championship game.

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.