AZ54

The rookie Center is making the most of his opportunity. His size isn't an issue if he can use it to his advantage and play lower with leverage. Of course he's got to have the strength for that as well which is how Kreutz excelled. It'll be interesting to see what he does with this opportunity. Mustipher doesn't appear to have a lock on RG and now Schofield is getting reps with the 1s and so is Carter. With those changes Mustipher moved to C with the 2s. Kreutz has been promoting Mustipher at C all offseason but now with his son's friend taking the lead at C I wonder what Kreutz will say/do next. https://www.si.com/nfl/bears/news/doug-kramer-the-center-of-attention-at-bears-camp

Based on that poor highlight I don't want him. I realize there's more than that but still he's not exactly shifty enough to break free from the DB and can't accelerate past him either. We might as well see what we get with Harry and ESB for a much lower cost.

I'm talking about his 3rd year and even then Mitch was still being babied. I can't remember anyone coming out of camp saying anything positive about him, in fact it was all red flags which proved correct as soon as the season started.

I gave up trusting the national media and their football analysts a very long time ago. There are a few exceptions of course but overall I tend to learn more right here about the Bears and even the NFL. The one thing I sense right now from fan reports is that, comparatively speaking, Justin Fields in this training camp is way ahead of what Trubisky was doing at his last training camp. Typically at this point of camp I'm suffering through 2 (or more) weeks of "it's early and the defense is expected to be ahead of the offense". This year we get:

2 days in a row the rookie Kramer got to step in a C with the 1s. Mustipher got some snaps with the 1s at C later in practice. Long way to go in this battle and you'd expect the guy who can play 2 positions has the edge for the final roster.

The fact remains that isn’t leading from the front like he said he wants to do. I listened to his press conference he didn’t own up to loafing. Part of being a leader is admitting when you are wrong and taking ownership to make sure it doesn’t happen again. This will be his last year with us. When the coaches put him on punt returns on the first day that was a message to him that he isn’t that valuable.

When Patrick left the field injured it was interesting to see him replaced by the rookie Kramer. This doesn't mean Mustipher isn't an option at C if he makes the final roster but any sentiment (from Olin Kreutz) that Mustipher will slide over to be the starting C seems like wishful thinking. N'Keal Harry had a couple drops today. After catching marshmallows from Mac Jones for a year I can forgive him for a little bit while he adjusts to a ball with a lot more velocity on it. There's chatter about the nice catch from Fields to Mooney deep in the middle of the field. For me the best part of that play was Fields sensing the pressure coming from his right side and sliding left in the pocket to buy enough time to release that pass...and he released that pass without resetting his feet. That kind of movement around the pocket is not something I recall last year. It's still early and with no pads there isn't much of a pass rush per se.

We don't have any depth on this roster. Who do we have behind Kmet, Mooney, or any starting Olineman?

Maybe, he had 3 INTs. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BurrJo01/gamelog/2021/

Definitely thinking way too far ahead but let's ask it this way... after all these decades of hope, do you think there is one Bear fan on the planet who would not be willing to pay top dollar for one of the NFLs best QBs? Whether or not Fields attains that status is up to him.

Maybe this is the CBA change the reporter was talking about?

In one of the press conference questions a reporter mentioned that this "hold-in" was becoming more common since the recent changes in the CBA, and asked Flus if that is what Roquan was doing? I have no clue what they were talking about because if there were something official like that where a player could attend practices but not participate if they chose then it seems they would just say it upfront. Maybe someone else knows more on that.

More of this please... FWIW Kmet appears to be running and cutting quicker than last year. I don't know if the new staff had him loose weight but he looks more fluid out there on the few routes I've seen.

Looks like no Teven Jenkins at practice today.

This is actually a plus move for Braxton Jones' development. We didn't have anyone on the roster with good LT experience for Jones to learn from. He was just competing with Borom with both learning on the fly. Reiff has limitations in pass protection but at least now Jones can see how it's done while also getting some pointers on pre-snap tips to help him come up to speed. Jones himself said he had to learn a pre-snap process to be mentally prepared for each play. Then there are the "tells" from DEs and what they plan to do. I'm looking forward to this weekend when we get feedback from fans attending practices this weekend. I saw somewhere that Velus "broke Kyler Gordon's ankles" on a cut in the endzone. It's day 1 of camp and whatnot so that in itself isn't a big deal but Jones said he's learned more about how to get in/out of his cuts and was focusing on that during the break. If he's showing consistency with his cuts then with his deep speed he'll be difficult to cover even if his route tree is limited. Can our new WR coach, Tyke Tolbert, help N'Keal Harry in the same manner? https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/bears/bears-training-camp-observations-what-we-learned-day-1 "Elsewhere on Day 1, Velus Jones Jr. beat Kyler Gordon one-on-one in the red zone with a slick, out-breaking move that allowed the rookie receiver to break wide open for a touchdown."

All I'm going to say is we beat that team last year and they didn't look that great during that game. They also lost to the Jets and Browns (2x). They got it together at the end of the season beating the Ravens and Chiefs helping them get into the playoffs. How many people had them in the Superbowl after the Wk 8 loss to the Jets, followed by a Wk 9 loss to Cleveland? If the expectation is that we are up/down like that I'd say yes but getting hot like that at the end of the season to compete deep into the playoffs...nah.

I'd say it's as expected with Reiff manning the LT spot competing with Jones. I still think they see who has the edge (sorry for the pun) and the other one gets kicked inside to RG to see what they can they do.

I don't see the 49ers game as a win. They are just too much of a good veteran team across the board, even with their 2nd year QB and his limitations. Not only that they run the same offense so they know how to defend it. The only advantage we have is they have no clue how we will deploy players on offense so there are no tendencies to scout. On the other side with their offense against our defense they have plenty of film on what Eberflus did in Indy so they'll be prepared. That didn't help them last year so maybe there is hope: https://www.si.com/nfl/colts/gameday/colts-49ers-week-7-crunching-numbers GB has the better defense and the QB plus we're on the road. We have Getsy who can give insight into tendencies but again with a revamped WR corps who knows. I'd guess they'll rely on their running game and screen passes early in the season so maybe we'll be ready. This is where you need a vet like Quinn to have a big game. I can't see our new offense having a good game on the road. By week 9 the talk in Miami might be benching Tua for the steady but unspectacular Bridgewater.

I think in terms of the league rules it has to be the result of a failed physical. I'd wager he failed his conditioning run when he struggled to leave the starting line.

https://www.chicagobears.com/news/roster-moves-bears-put-smith-kamara-on-pup-3-on-nfi "The Bears on Wednesday placed linebacker Roquan Smith and defensive end Sam Kamara on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list and put cornerback Michael Joseph, safety Dane Cruikshank and receiver Tajae Sharpe on the non-football injury list (NFI). Players on both lists can be activated at any time during training camp." ------------------- The one player I want to see healthy and practicing is Cruikshank. No reason to worry about Smith as he negotiates his new deal as long as it doesn't drag on past camp. Kamara, Joseph, and Sharpe are all longshots to make the 53.

At least the floor of the Oline has improved and for reasonable cap hit and no future cap impact to worry about.

I'm just reading more tea leaves from Poles comments today but it sure seems like Harry was high on the Chiefs radar when he was in the draft. There's certainly nothing special in Harry's NFL portfolio worthy of that statement. https://bearswire.usatoday.com/lists/bears-training-camp-takeaways-report-day-ryan-poles-justin-fields/ Poles wouldn’t speculate about Harry’s failures in New England. Instead, he’s giving Harry a fresh start in Chicago after seeing what he brings to the table. “I wasn’t in that building or anything. I just know what he’s capable of,” Poles said. “And I want to give him the opportunity to come here and show what he can do and get things on the right path.”

If, as Eberflus stated, this is what is about to happen: https://bearswire.usatoday.com/lists/bears-training-camp-takeaways-report-day-ryan-poles-justin-fields/ “Offensive line moving guys from outside to inside, and if it’s defensive line, moving a guy around for pass rush purposes, inside or outside, we’re going to do that all across the roster,” Eberflus said. “Moving a corner from outside to inside, moving a receiver from outside to inside, we’re going to do all those different things to find out the best combination for the Chicago Bears going forward.” --------------------- then there are two things related to our OT position: First, Reiff likely isn't moving inside because he hasn't played there in his 10 year career and he's paid too much to be an experiment. He's a bit of a liability in pass protection but for a run-first offense working off play-action he should be ok. I'd prefer him at RT vs. LT but it all depends on the best 5 combination. Second, I really doubt they'll experiment inside with Braxton Jones. It appears they feel they have their LT of the future and they are going to keep him there to focus on that role. He is unlikely to be ready to start in Week 1, and realistically needs a full year of practice before starting. I don't even think he'll rotate to RT in camp but he might get a few snaps there. We'll see, but I'd wager any experimentation at OG is likely out of the question. That leaves Borom and Jenkins to see if either fits at RG. Schofield is good enough to challenge both for the starting role so nothing is given. They will experiment early on and likely have a target date for when they want to lock-in the starters. We'll see if a smart reporter asks them when that is, and if they are even willing to declare that. Coaches don't like to be boxed in but you have to think they'd want the starters on the field at their position for at least a few snaps in one preseason game if not two.

I agree on DTs but I don't see much available. I wouldn't be surprised to see us grab a vet who gets cut late in camp. Poles has quite a few Oline on board and will be hoping to stash at least a couple on our practice squad but for DT I don't think we have any promising UDFAs or late round rookies. Therefore, I also expect us to be watching the rookies and young practice squad players who get cut and grabbing a few DT prospects for our practice squad. We definitely have opportunity for a talented young player who just needs time to develop and smart agents look for that. Not to mention a coaching staff that has proven to give young players opportunities if they've earned it. You could say they are all new and there is no history of that with the Bears but we've already seen Braxton Jones, Dom Robinson, Brisker, and Gordon get time with the 1's.

He should be.