I wish people would go back and look at what the “camp stories” were in years past and notice how none of them correlate to anything that subsequently happens in the regular season.

• Teven Jenkins said, “I want to be here in Chicago, so I’m playing wherever they want me to play.” This is absolutely the best-case scenario for the team. Jenkins is talented and the Bears don’t have a ton of talent along their offensive line.
• Liked this Tweet from Kevin Fishbain: “Bears OC Luke Getsy on rookie LT Braxton Jones: “You get into the pads and there was zero intimidation. Going against Robert Quinn your very first one-on-one pass rush, right? It’s an intimidating thing. He stepped up and did a great job. He’s answered the bell.” If the Bears are going with their best five up front, Braxton will be in that group.
• Injuries to N’Keal Harry and Byron Pringle. Not good. The Harry injury sounds somewhat serious. (I think it was unlikely Harry was going to play a significant role in 2022 anyway but he at least provided something to watch in the practice games upcoming.)

Thoughts on “Man Caves”

I don’t get ’em. Never have.

The way I understand the man cave is you take a room of your house, usually in the basement, put a bunch of televisions in there, cover the walls with your memorabilia, and that’s where you go watch sports.

My first question is, why is this necessary? Why can’t you just watch sports on the same television you watch Turner Classic Movies? And what happens to the room when sports are not on? Is it the room empty? Isn’t that a massive waste of space?

But my other problem might be that I don’t have any memorabilia. I find memorabilia, quite honestly, stupid. Other than the original Super Bowl Shuffle album and my childhood Jim McMahon shirt, every other thing I have with Chicago Bears on it was given to me. I couldn’t fill the shelf in a linen closet with memorabilia, let alone a cave.

If you have to create a space in your house to get away from other people and just watch sports, why not just go to a sports bar? At least then you have someone else serving you the beer and food and there’s no clean up. Hell, you might even meet another likeminded human being and strike up one of those friendships people keep talking about.

Even the word “cave” denotes the neanderthal, man at his most primitive, reducing the (male) sports fan to his most base self. I must have own room to yell about football. Woman, you stay upstairs! One of the things I have cherished about my years at Josie Woods with Maciej, Reverend Dave, Steph, etc. is the conversations in the commercial breaks about soccer, politics, food, movies, whatever. If I ever had a “cave” in my apartment, I’d use the massive television to screen The Umbrellas of Cherbourg for my friends.

Before officially demoting Teven Jenkins to the second team, Matt Eberflus and the offensive coaching staff should try him at right guard.

Jenkins’ demotion was a surprise because, if the Bears had any questions about his ability to play right tackle, why didn’t they do more to address the position in the offseason? As it stands, the team promoted fifth-round rookie Braxton Jones to left tackle and moved 2021 fifth-rounder Larry Borom to right tackle, with Jenkins taking snaps with the second team.

Eberflus has said it was always part of the team’s plan to move players around, but that excuse doesn’t make sense for a variety of reasons. For starters, the team didn’t even have Jones until the draft. If they planned on having a draft pick seriously compete for playing time, they would’ve spent an earlier pick on the position. Secondly, it isn’t as if Jenkins is in a rotation, he was firmly on the second team, with Borom switching positions to take Jenkins’ starting reps. Lastly, the idea that they’re getting a good look at offensive linemen at this point is flawed because they have yet to see the players do any blocking.

It’s hard to figure out how Jenkins could’ve lost the job or why they made the move at all, but — anyway you figure it — it doesn’t look good for Jenkins’ 2022 outlook, at least not at tackle.

There is so much we don’t know, but assuming Jenkins is physically capable of playing, the team would be wise to try him at guard instead of forcing a competition at tackle.

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Again, I am pretty obviously a fan of Justin Fields. But the behavior of those defined as #BearsTwitter goes beyond fandom. They seem to have an emotional stake in his success, as if his failures on the field would have personal ramifications for them. They make bold (odd) pronouncements about him “owning” the league and winning Super Bowls. They have constant, meaningless fights with other fans. Every Bears fan wants Fields to succeed because his success means success for the franchise. But fans never behaved this way for Cade or Rex or Jay and certainly never for Mitch. What is so different about this player?

• I reached out to John “Moon” Mullin in the early days of DBB – around 2006/7 – and was shocked at the time how generous he was with his time, with his advice, with his humor and wit. He was a truly good man, and he will be desperately missed. K.C. Johnson wrote a very nice send-off to Moon for NBC Sports.
  • Going through some old emails from Moon, I was struck by one piece of advice. He saw what the internet was doing to sports journalism and he feared one trend. “Don’t just be a fan, but don’t become a jaded old sportswriter either.” 
  • Adam Jahns had a very nice Twitter thread, paying tribute to Moon.
• Pretty interesting piece by David Roeder in the Sun-Times regarding how money (and mainly taxpayer money) will influence the Bears plans in Arlington Heights. The truth of these NFL buildings is indisputable: they are nowhere near as valuable to the economics of their surrounding community as NFL owners want you to believe. And if you think a new building in Arlington Heights is suddenly going to become a premier concert venue, you’re out to lunch. This building will be vacant 98% of the year.
• For those clamoring for a DK Metcalf trade, there is hope. This piece on Seattle Sports (710 AM) has a simple conclusion: “Metcalf wants a number much larger than the Seahawks are willing to pay.”
• ACTUAL BEAR NEWS: A gigantic black bear has been spotted roaming a golf course in Naples, Florida. And I’m sure he’s already a better putter than I am. (As you read this, I’m probably three-putting for the third or fourth time in my Wednesday game.)
• Braxton Jones is likely to be the starting left tackle when the Bears gather for training camp later this summer and Brad Biggs thinks he’s ready to win the job. You can also see some highlights of Jones at the Senior Bowl by clicking here.
• Ryan Poles would trade Robert Quinn. He’s been open to trading Robert Quinn since he took the job. But to this point, the Bears just haven’t received a worthy offer. (Fox Bet has the Cowboys as favorites to land Quinn.) If I’m Poles, I’m not just moving Quinn for a draft pick. I’m only moving Quinn is a young, offensive piece is coming back to Chicago. And that’s very rare in the league.