• Injuries, injuries, injuries. Coach Flus today confirmed that Thomas Graham will miss time. If it’s a hamstring issue, that’s usually 3-4 weeks conservatively. Again, this is an injury that is manageable on August 1 and less so on August 21. Hamstrings can nag all season if the player is rushed back too quickly. If Graham doesn’t play the opener, it isn’t the biggest deal in the world.
• Early Justin Fields Update:
  • Leadership qualities off the charts. Even ownership feels he’s taken control of the team.
  • Mechanics/fundamentals are coming along. Delivery looks far more compact. Decision to deliver still needs to quicken. (Offensive coaches thought a few of the practice “sacks” on Monday could have been avoided.)
• Al-Quadin Muhammad is having a very strong early camp. Does that mean anything? Not really. But the Bears need multiple guys to complement Robert Quinn in the pass rush department.
• From Courtney Cronin’s Twitter: “…Khari Blasingame came away with a highlight play for the offense, roughly a 35-yard leaping catch down the sideline during the team period. Impressive play.” Don’t be surprised to see Blasingame utilized a ton in the passing game.
• An excellent piece detailing the coaching foundation of Eberflus, by Colleen Kane in the Tribune.

Being a beat writer for a losing team is a tough gig. (Nobody has perfected the skill better than Dave Birkett in Detroit.)

In this age where your journalistic value is determined by click totals and uniques, the beats are almost forced to treat meaningless games like they have meaning. Monday night’s loss to the Minnesota Vikings had plenty to discuss but the result really didn’t matter. Still, there were positives to be taken from the game.

Positive #1. Justin Fields.

Fields made plenty of rookie mistakes, which is not surprising because he’s a rookie. (He’s still trying to extend the extendable play and putting the football on the ground too much.) But he also flashed all the traits that give so many fans optimism around Chicago: short memory, remarkable speed, deep accuracy, cannon arm, etc. Fields is playing in an incoherent offensive system, surrounded by one of the worst collections of skill guys in the sport. The arrow is pointed decidedly up.

Positive #2. Thomas Graham Jr.

What a debut! Graham made plays all over the field, including a brilliant PBU in the endzone right after Matt Nagy’s sideline penalty.

Thomas Graham Jr : 7 tackles & 3 pass breakups (NFL debut. 6th round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft) pic.twitter.com/9khneph5Jh

— Lee Harvey (@MusikFan4Life) December 21, 2021

There is reason to be very excited but let’s see this kid on the field, non-stop, for the final three games of the season.

Positive #3. Teven Jenkins

Jenkins actually played a fine game against one of the league’s premier pass rushes. But it was the personal foul penalty, defending his quarterback, that landed with the most important player in the locker room.

Justin Fields said he liked what Teven Jenkins did after he took a shot near the sideline.

“I liked him sticking up for me. That’s what I think we need more of.”

— Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) December 21, 2021

If the Bears can see good things from Jenkins and right tackle Larry Borom over these final weeks, they can be in a terrific position upfront going into 2022.

Positive #4. Roquan Smith, James Daniels, Darnell Mooney

This the kind of young core that will excite prospective coaches.

• Roquan continues to be one of the best inside linebackers in the league, as dynamic in space as he is in run support. He’s always had the athletic ability but what’s really become obvious is how intuitively he now plays the position. He’s sniffing out plays pre-snap routinely; the mark of the elite inside backers.
• Daniels is playing like a top guard and is the anchor of the team’s terrific running game. Hard to believe he won’t be receiving a lucrative extension to stay in town.
• Mooney is a winning piece in a logical offense. (Hell, he’s a solid piece in this offense.) Why the Bears, with their complete dearth of top skill players, don’t make sure Mooney touches the ball ten times a game, is beyond me. (But that’s a sideline problem, not a player problem.)

Positive #5. Pat O’Donnell had a 72-yard punt.

That is all.

With two of the team’s three starting cornerback positions up for grabs, this summer’s positional battles could be crucial for the immediate and long-term future of the team.

There is little question that the Bears prefer for Kindle Vildor and Thomas Graham Jr. to win the starting jobs because while the competition features some interesting names, the options themselves are relatively unappealing.

Early reports from the offseason program have indicated Vildor played well, though it’s way too early to know what that means. He figures to be battling Artie Burns and Desmond Trufant for the job opposite Jaylon Johnson but could also compete with Graham and Duke Shelley at the starting slot spot. Vildor struggled as a rookie, allowing completions on 12 of the 17 passes thrown his way in the regular season, but that is to be expected from a raw fifth-rounder.

If he stays healthy, Trufant could be interesting. He has five interceptions in 15 games the past two seasons, but has also surrendered passer ratings higher than 100. He hasn’t been in good situations, playing with teams that haven’t had much for pass rush and Detroit liked putting cornerbacks on an island. It’s possible that Trufant has enough to give the Bears a good season, but that would do nothing to answer the long-term question.

If Burns win the job, the Bears will be in big trouble. The former first round pick has never played like a starting-caliber cornerback.

Read More …

In the first round, the Bears selected Justin Fields. (More on this tomorrow.)

In the second, they selected Teven Jenkins, the most mocked player to the team over the last month.

We posted highlights of fifth round pick Larry Borom. Here are highlights from the rest.

Khalil Herbert, RB, Virginia Tech

Dazz Newsome, WR, UNC

Thomas Graham Jr., DB, Oregon

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