AZ54

As I said in the training camp thread: "Signs were already pointing toward Borom starting at RT but we'll see if that holds. Eberflus has already said he wants to keep 8 Oline so it's possible Jenkins ends up the odd man out at the end of camp and gets traded." I'd certainly like to see Jenkins fight for a job instead of pouting. I'd love to see his run blocking ability on the field but whatever is going on behind the scenes it just blew up. I was kinda discounting the whole maturity issues rumor but no longer. Oddly we're in the reverse situation of N'Keal Harry and the Patriots except Poles and Eberflus aren't going to wait nearly as long. Again, new sheriff in town and I guarantee this rumor has everyone's attention in the locker room. I'll add to the uneducated guesses based on my statement at the top. If we're only keeping 8 Oline and if Jenkins is headed toward being a backup that means he needs to demonstrate some versatility. He may have balked about taking snaps inside at RG, and also about being the "extra" lineman in limited packages. Reiff can play both sides. Jones is LT only. Borom can play both sides. What else are we gonna do with the 4th OT? Putting aside Jenkins issues, I still don't think the team would be shopping him if they really needed him even as a backup. I think this means they feel pretty good about Jones and Borom and likely two other Olineman. Reiff is the LT starter but gives added flexibility for RT, and then you have Schofield who can also slide out to RT if needed. They may also like what Mustipher and Carter are doing inside (guessing since Carter had some reps with the 1s). So then who are the top 8 Oline? 1. Reiff LT/RT 2. Schofield RG/RT 3. Whitehair LG/C 4. Patrick C/RG 5. Borom LT/RT 6. Mustipher RG/C backup each 7. Jones LT. 8. ????? (in terms of talent options are Jenkins, Carter, Shonn Coleman 5th yr, Zach Thomas, Pig Simmons, Eiselen, Kramer). I know Delance, and Davenport are out there too. I can't see them keeping a backup C who can't flex out to OG so Kramer is likely practice squad material. Watch how they line up tomorrow. In that list, besides Jenkins, there has to be a couple guys they like enough to be comfortable with them battling for the 8th spot. Otherwise keeping Jenkins necessitates having 9 Oline on the 53 but are you going to do that with a guy who isn't bought into your program? We're not going to be able to put Jenkins on the practice squad because someone would pick him up. The last 3 roster spots go to players who exude the culture and are willing to do whatever they can to help the team win, not to someone who needs a babysitter. What happens if we can't get decent value out of the trade? Either Jenkins has his teachable moment (nobody really values him) and decides to work hard (RT/RG) to earn a roster spot. Or we're SOL. I'd venture that Poles will keep him around as long as possible because there is always a team in need of OT help at cutdowns due to injuries. He'd likely get better value from someone who didn't want to take the risk of Jenkins becoming a FA. Deadlines bring clarity to your cost/benefit analysis especially if your GM or HC job is on the line. You'll pay more to try to keep your job. Like Harry did for the last year, if Jenkins first trade pitch doesn't work out he'd likely shut up and toe the line enough to help build his trade value during the preseason.

He needs to stack the DB and push further inside so there is more room for the over the shoulder throw. All things he can learn. On the other hand, Kyler Gordon was right there, kept Velus wide on the sideline as he should be doing, and forced that throw into a very tight window. These two rookies have been going at it early and often in camp so far and think these battles will only heat up.

Everybody mentions it at the start of camp each day. Signs were already pointing toward Borom starting at RT but we'll see if that holds. Eberflus has already said he wants to keep 8 Oline so it's possible Jenkins ends up the odd man out at the end of camp and gets traded. I don't think Jones is going anywhere and likely won't make it to the practice squad. Borom and Reiff, can play both LT/RT and Schofield can also backup RT. If everyone is healthy we don't need another backup OT. Jenkins has to either win the RT job or show he can move inside and perform well enough there to at least be a backup OG/OT. We're only 4 days into a 35 day process and we haven't even had 1 practice in pads.

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.”