ADAM2ADAM ON LEONARD FLOYD

Leonard Floyd didn’t have a great day Sunday, expectedly for a raw rookie. But he almost never left the field. Jahns broke down his debut after film study:

“We got a fast, relentless team, guys that can do multiple things in any situations,” linebacker Jerrell Freeman said. “We got [outside linebackers] that can go out there and play seam/flat on some receivers.

“You see the young fella out there playing great.”

But sacks still matter most for Floyd. His takedown of Osweiler in the third quarter was his best play. He didn’t have a quick jump off the snap, but he fought through left tackle Chris Clark, reached the edge and quickly closed on Osweiler.

As Fangio predicted, there were moments when Floyd was overmatched. On Hopkins’ 23-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter, Floyd was stood up by Newton.

Play fakes negated Floyd’s speed at times, but he handled his run assignments well, which included squaring up with tight end C.J. Fiedorowicz. Floyd also was involved in six tackles, but he wasn’t on the field for Fuller’s 18-yard score on a tunnel screen.

“I feel good,” Floyd said. “But I’ve got some improvements to make.”

Adam Hoge had an interesting take on the Bears decision to play Floyd about 80% of the defensive snaps.

This, of course, does not mean that Floyd was the best option to play the most snaps at outside linebacker in Week 1. In fact, I would argue that the Bears coaching staff did not give its team the best chance to win by only playing Houston on 36 percent of the defensive snaps.

But I guess it depends on how you look at it. Which is more important: beating the Texans in Week 1 or getting your raw first round draft pick the most experience possible?

I guess we now know where the Bears stand on that question.

The Bears are committed to developing Floyd. And they are willing to sacrifice early success to do so.

THE EIGHTH BIGGS THING

Brad Biggs writes his 10 thoughts column every Monday and the column seems to grow every week. This week, right in the middle, was a bit about Roy Robertson-Harris that felt like it came out of left field but was nevertheless pretty interesting. Here it is.

8. Roy Robertson-Harris did not get much action in preseason but he still caught the eye of one national scout for an NFC team that I talked to before the finale at Cleveland. “They’ll want to keep him,” the scout said. “You mark my word.” The outside linebacker, who was an undrafted free agent from UTEP, got 14 snaps against the Chiefs (and two more on special teams) in the third preseason game and 12 snaps in the second preseason game at New England. He was shut down for the start of training camp with a heat-related illness. The Bears placed Robertson-Harris on the non-football illness reserve list on Aug. 30 before the preseason finale and that move shut him down for the entire season. Heat-related illnesses are serious business and the player and the team want to ensure he gets his body right.

He flashed enough that the Bears know they want to develop Robertson-Harris, who they really liked in the pre-draft process. They brought him to Halas Hall for a pre-draft visit and then pushed to sign him after the draft. On the non-football illness list, he will receive $333,000 this season.

Now, Robertson-Harris needs to see what he can do to improve as a player when he’s not able to practice with the team.

“It’s more of a mental game for me at this point just learning as much as I can with the playbook and just doing everything coach (Clint) Hurtt asks me to do, taking notes and making sure I am mentally still in the game,” he said. “Yes, it’s a bummer for me not being able to play my rookie season. I am really thankful that I am still being kept around.”

The most impressive play Robertson-Harris made vs. the Chiefs was when he lined up in the slot and Aaron Murray tried to a bubble screen to wide receiver Da’Ron Brown. Robertson-Harris blew up wide receiver Demarcus Robinson, who was attempting to block, powering through him to tackle Brown for a 3-yard loss. It was really impressive. Earlier, Robertson-Harris made sure his coverage responsibility at the line of scrimmage were taken care of and then pressured Murray, hitting him to the turf, as he threw a short pass to tight end James O’Shaughnessy.

“I wasn’t content with my performance,” Robertson-Harris said. “I am really just bummed out I didn’t get to play as much in preseason because of this. So at this point, I am not thinking about what I did and what more I could have done. I am thinking about staying in it mentally and getting ready for next year. Getting ready for OTAs next year.

“I’m taking extra notes for the vets. I will help these guys out anyway I can. I am feeling good about it. At the end of the day, I still have a job and an opportunity.”

I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of this guy.

BEST BEAT TWEET

I don’t plan to watch much Bears tape this season. It’s just so boring. So I’ll rely on the pros. And Adam Jahns had the same response to Sunday I did.

10. Most disconcerting aspect for me was #Bears‘ lack of a pass rush. Their front-seven was supposed to a be strength.

— Adam Jahns (@adamjahns) September 12, 2016