The Bears played terrific defense in each of their three preseason games, doing so mostly without the involvement of their two best defensive players, Roquan Smith and Robert Quinn. The veterans (Morrow, Jones, Muhammad, etc.) contributed consistently and the kids (Brisker, Gordon) were the summer’s shining light. If this group can find enough pass rush, still a significant if, they will be a unit easily slotted into the top half of the sport.

The Bears also looked solid on specials in their preseason games and on the Lake Forest practice field. Cairo Santos is one of the most reliable kickers in the league. Trenton Gill is looking like a seventh-round steal, especially considering that the more ballyhooed punter in the draft, Matt Araiza, has now been accused of participation in a gang rape and is out of the sport. And the team has what you want when it comes to return men, the steadiness of a Dante Pettis and the explosiveness of a Velus Jones Jr. (Coverage units are difficult to evaluate during the summer because they are formed by the bottom third of the roster.)

When it came to the competitiveness of the 2022 Bears, it was always going to come down to the offense. Would the quarterback take the next step? Could the young line hold up? Do they have enough playmakers on the outside? How long would it take this group to grasp Luke Getsy’s system – a system that has historically struggled in year one? Questions, questions, questions, questions. But did the summer provide any answers?

Yes, I think one could argue it did.

The quarterback had his moment Saturday night. And it was a moment many inside the building were desperate to see. He was poised in the pocket, processed the field well, and was decisive and accurate with his throws. It was still a practice game, and it’ll be forgotten by the middle of the week, but it has to instill a tremendous amount of confidence in Justin Fields as he embarks upon the journey of his sophomore season.

The young offensive line has looked just fine and should improve when Lucas Patrick makes his expected return in September. This group is going to have its struggles. Braxton Jones is a rookie. Teven Jenkins is playing his first season at guard. Larry Borom probably shouldn’t be a starting tackle, but the team’s future will be better served getting him on-field experience this year. There will be drives that frustrate fans and drives that enthrall fans. That’s the story with young starters in the NFL. But this unit has certainly not been the liability this summer many predicted.

As for playmakers, of course the Bears don’t have enough. Not even close. Look at the talent outside for contenders like the Bucs, Rams, Bengals, Bills and the entirety of the AFC West. “Why can’t the Bears contend for a title this year?” is often asked by the most optimistic of fans on social media. (They must know, but they ask anyway.) This is the answer. But a few things should be noted here. First, a Larry Mayer tweet:

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If you’ve never been part of a dress rehearsal, they are crazy exciting. (And somewhat terrifying.) Until that performance you really don’t know what type of play you have.

Fields’ first half would have had us whispering in the wings, “I think we got something real here.”

— DaBearsBlog (@dabearsblog) August 28, 2022

It’s hard to get excited for a “dress rehearsal” when the opponent announces none of their stars will play and several of your own stars won’t play either. They don’t have dress rehearsals for a production of Hamlet and let the Claudius and Gertrude sit them out. Nevertheless, we watch.

Quarter One.

• Dante Pettis returns the first punt. He’s been reliable in that job this summer and he seems to have a solid spot on the roster.
• Why does David Montgomery need preseason reps? We know how limited the shelf life of running backs is in the league. Why would you subject one to a single hit they don’t need to take?
• Second drive for the offense provided a sense of how Getsy wants to approach the field. This is not an offense that will exist between the tackles. They want to use every inch, from sideline to sideline.
• Justin Fields taking cheap shots in the preseason. That seems valuable.
  • Fields’ touchdown strike to Ryan Griffin was on a rope. The kid has a remarkable arm.
  • He also played an extremely composed quarter. He sat in the pocket. He surveyed the field. He delivered the football accurately.
• Hard to really gauge what this defense will look like without seeing Robert Quinn and Roquan Smith out there. But they are checking all the boxes when it comes to intensity.

Quarter Two.

• David Montgomery looks quicker, but there was no reason for him to STILL be carrying the football in the second quarter.
• Fields to Pettis for the second touchdown. Another strike, after Fields looked all other options.
• Never overreact to preseason action but Jaquan Brisker has some superstar potential. He’s as good in run support, pursuing the player, as he is in coverage, pursuing the football.
• Fields throws a touchdown pass to a wide-open Cole Kmet. But the play was made by Fields’ patience. He had the checkdown early. But he didn’t take it. He allowed the play to breath. It did. Touchdown.
• Really strong performance all around from Justin Jones.
• Same for Kindle Vildor, who looks like he’ll have a significant role in the defense.

There is only one story of this half, and subsequently, game. The Bears saw what Justin Fields can be in this league. And what he can be is a top tier starting quarterback.

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Last one!

Last practice game of the 2022 off-season!

And with the starters expected to play a majority of the first half (supposedly), might there by more to watch in this practice game than in previous ones? Not really. But here’s what I’ll be watching.

• INJURIES. This season is not going to be a fun one if the young talent isn’t on the field and that includes the quarterback, the three defensive backs, the left tackle, the right side of the line, etc. It would be devastating to not have this full complement when the scores actually count.
• SPECIALS. The Bears seems to have decided upon Velus Jones Jr. as their primary kickoff and punt return man, with Dante Pettis the reliable alternative for the latter when they require a fair catch guy. It will be interesting to see if they deviate from that plan Saturday night. (Also, pay attention to which players are being used on the coverage units. It’ll be a strong clue as to who will be on this roster for the regular season.)
• ROQUAN’S RETURN. Is this interesting to watch? No. Roquan Smith is a great player. He’ll be a great player against San Francisco in a few weeks. But it’ll be nice to see him again, I guess.
• THE ACTUAL OFFENSE. David Montgomery hasn’t played in a preseason game. Byron Pringle hasn’t played in a preseason game. Equanimeous St. Brown doesn’t have a preseason catch. Velus hasn’t run a go route. Is there any chance we’ll see the actual offense tomorrow night? Doubtful. But maybe with the extended playing time, we get a hint of what’s to come?

It is a practice game. And there are still two weeks until the regular season. But hey, it’s something to do on a Saturday night that doesn’t involve drinking too much. (Spoiler alert: I will watch the game and also drink too much.)

Virginia McCaskey is 99 years old. Let’s put that number in perspective.

– When Virginia was born, sound was still four years away from being introduced to motion pictures.

– Virginia was born two months before the first ever publication of Time Magazine, in March 1923.

– Across the country, other icons were born that year. The Hollywood Sign (reading “Hollywoodland”) was erected in LA. Yankee Stadium and the boardwalk at Coney Island opened in NYC. The Walt Disney Company was founded.

Virginia is not in good health. In the last few days, word has trickled to DBB that her condition has become more serious. At her age, the word “good” is relative. (I just turned 40 and now my neck always hurts. If I live another 59 years, which is highly unlikely, will I even have a neck?) She’s on the precipice of living a century so one could argue that being alive, in any state, is playing with house money. But this seemed the appropriate moment to thank her for what she’s meant to the Chicago Bears franchise.

And where does one start?

Virginia is football’s link between then and now, heir to a founding fortune and keeper of one of this country’s most sacred sporting entities. Even while the family she married into has often caused consternation amongst the fan base, she has maintained her position, often symbolic, with dignity and passion. Virginia understands what the Chicago Bears mean to Chicago, what the Bears mean to their fans around the world, and always encouraged those leading the franchise to do whatever necessary to bring home another Super Bowl trophy. While they have failed, she has not.

It has become commonplace to see female owners in the NFL, in Detroit and Tennessee and Seattle. Virginia has been an NFL owner for 40 years. Not the wife of an owner. The owner. How many other women were running major American businesses in the early 1980s? And how many have not only maintained that role but earned the respect of the alpha male tycoon yahoos that surround her? “She’s remarkable woman,” Jim Irsay told The Score. Remarkable barely does her justice.

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Training camp is an interesting part of the NFL calendar. It is part fan excitement. Part organizational misinformation. Part media scrambling to find stories where stories do not exist. Part me arguing on social media about the complete lack of value in preseason game reps. But it’s all…interesting? It gives us something to do. And sometimes we learn things.

So, what did we learn about the Chicago Bears during this 2022 camp?

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Item #1. The H.I.T.S. Concept Works

It drew a lot of laughter at the introductory press conference of the coach/GM, but Eberflus’ H.I.T.S. concept has been remarkably visible on both the practice field and preseason pitch. These players run. They flock to the football. They gang tackle. This is not going to be the most talented roster in the NFL, by any means, but it looks to be a roster that will rarely be outworked on game day. And those types of teams are very easy to get behind.

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Item #2. Cole Kmet Might Take “The Leap”

I texted someone inside the building and asked one question. “What player is having a killer summer that no one is talking about?”

Text back, one word. “Kmet.”

Here are my thoughts when it comes to Kmet:

• He doubled his production from year one to year two.
• His touchdown numbers were heinous in 2021 because Matt Nagy was obsessed with Jimmy Graham in the red zone.
• Justin Fields has a definitive rapport with Kmet.
• Getsy’s offense is going to incorporate the tight end screen far more and Kmet is uniquely built to be productive on those calls.
• Darnell Mooney is a very good receiver but isn’t every defensive coordinator going to try to take him away? The Bears don’t really have a second receiver. Kmet will fill that void.

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Good news on the injury front for the Bears running back room. Fullback Khari Blasingame, who had a brace on his left arm during the Seattle game, does not have the brace on today and is practicing. So is Khalil Herbert, who left practice early yesterday.

— Courtney Cronin (@CourtneyRCronin) August 21, 2022

Teven Jenkins and Larry Borom remain with the 1s during the first team period this morning.

— Courtney Cronin (@CourtneyRCronin) August 21, 2022

Some highlights from Bears practice today:

– Fields connected with Mooney for a long TD. Fields rolled to his left before hitting Mooney who got past Jackson.

– Fields had two long completions to St. Brown.

– Fields was intercepted by Morrow. Blackson tipped the pass.

— Adam Jahns (@adamjahns) August 21, 2022

Eberflus on Borom: “He’s been consistent. He’s been relatively consistent. He’s doing a good job in there. Right now, he’s in that position as a starter. He’s got competition behind him and we’ll see what happens and see if he can sustain that execution all the way through.”

— Courtney Cronin (@CourtneyRCronin) August 21, 2022

The Bears know who they are. And that is refreshingly unlike them.

It would have been easy for Eberflus, Poles, Chris Morgan, etc. to plop their recently-signed veteran offensive linemen into the starting lineup and lean on their experience to stabilize the position group. Riley Reiff and Michael Schofield would not have elevated the 2022 OL to the status of good (or even almost good) but it would have elevated the floor of that room’s potential to not terrible.

But that is not what this leadership did. In the last week or so they slid Teven Jenkins inside, a projected move that caused consternation from the player earlier in the year. To say Jenkins has thrived would be an overstatement, but the Bears are excited by what they’ve seen thus far and Jenkins has wholly bought in to the project.

And, while most of us believed Larry Borom was just place holding for a resting Reiff, Eberflus announced publicly that the former is actually now the starter. (See Courtney’s above tweet.) Is there still competition for the job? Of course. But it’s Borom’s to lose and that is no small thing.

This is a franchise operating with a plan; making roster decisions with the future squarely in mind. The Bears don’t gain anything for 2023 and beyond if Reiff and Schofield play meaningful snaps in 2022, outside of perhaps giving Justin Fields a bit more reliability up front. Playing Jenkins and Borom on the right side gives the Bears a full season to evaluate two potential starters.

Will that come with some growing pains? Of course. But the end result of growing pains is growth. And the potential upside of playing these two on the right side is having the right side solidified for the foreseeable future with two players under 25 years old.

If Jenkins flames out, you turn to Schofield. If the Borom party becomes unruly, Reiff is ready to clean up the mess. Young talent on the field. Veteran experience on the bench. This is how a team at this stage of the process should be constructed.

But that requires the organization acknowledging where they are in the championship process. The Bears – by making the moves they have along the offensive line – are showing us all they are who we think they are.

Is there a position harder to look at with the standard NFL camera angle than right guard?

— DaBearsBlog (@dabearsblog) August 19, 2022

As is the want of DBB, we’ll approach this practice game quarter-by-quarter. And hopefully I will be able to stay awake for all four. (That is highly doubtful. With both teams sitting 20+ players, this is a more useless preseason game than most.)

Quarter One.

• Velus Jones looks like he’s going to be the return man. Showed a remarkable burst on the opening kickoff (before fumbling) and had a long punt return later. When you have that kind of speed on your roster, you have to use it, and the return game is a good way to start.
• First offensive drive, the Bears surrendered a lot of pressure. But Fields was genuinely quick to recognize it and get the football out of his hands. Remember, this is all vanilla game planning. Nothing the Bears ran against Seattle had anything to do with Seattle.
• Never overreact to the preseason. But Cole Kmet looks like he’s going to be a central part of this passing game.
• Just an eye test thing, but I think the Bears need to move Trestan Ebner ahead of Khalil Herbert on their depth chart. He’s got a better burst and he’s tougher to bring down. Herbert is useful but Ebner looks better as a runner.
  • Ebner didn’t make it through the first half healthy. Something to monitor.
• This game kicked off at 8:13 or so ET. By 8:43 all of the relevant Bears were out of the game. These games in August should all be early afternoon kickoffs.
• No idea how well Teven Jenkins played inside against the better Seahawks, but he didn’t seem to make any visible errors. (When Seattle moved to the backups late in the quarter, Jenkins leveled a few guys.)

Quarter Two.

• Trevor Siemian is having a nice summer for this team. You want a backup quarterback that can execute the offense and not be an automatic loss. Siemian is that.
• Do the Bears intend to use Trenton Gill on kickoffs?
• Big time whiff by Kyle Gordon on the long Homer run at the start of the second quarter. Happens. But needs to get corrected.
• Good reason to be concerned about Trevis Gipson. For a guy expected to start on the edge, he’s had a relatively unimpressive summer and was kept in this game far too long. Bears need pass rush production aside from Robert Quinn. Gipson need to provide a significant amount of it.
• Dante Pettis relieved Dazz on punt returns last week and relieved Velus this week. Seems like he’ll have a spot on this roster.
• A guy slid to end the half for Seattle. And then he looked shocked by the moment. That seems about right for these awful games.

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