Five thoughts:
- Jay Cutler looked terrific in his limited but not limited enough performance. He was decisive, accurate and did what he has always done: extended plays when there seemed to be nothing to extend. (What did I learn here? Nothing.)
- Alshon Jeffery played like a star. Why? Because he is a star. Do the Bears agree with that assessment? I’m not sure. But I am starting to get the sense that Alshon is going to run up his tab for 16 + games starting in September.
- Several players looked like they were guaranteed roster guys: Moeaki, Mariani, Thompson, Anderson (starting over Jones, Timu). As I always argue, teams know a bulk of their roster decisions well before a preseason game is ever played.
- The Bears don’t have a center on the roster. And they are one player deep at the other four spots. Offensive line is still a year away.
- Jeremy Langford showed what I didn’t need him to show. There won’t be a running back by committee in Chicago. Not if Langford runs like he did tonight.
UPDATE: FRIDAY AM
- Bears announced late last night that Kyle Fuller underwent a knee scope and is out for a while. I’ve heard talk of him playing the opener but the opener is in three weeks. The likelihood is Fuller returns 2-3 weeks into the season and, really, why rush him back before that?
- Of course 2 of the 4 roster guys I mentioned above got hurt. Both Thompson and Moeaki came out of the game dinged up. For Thompson, the injury is a brutal blow. The Bears want him to be their primary kick returner but that means contributing across the specials landscape and possibly on offense. Missing significant time will be a massive hurdle for him to leap.
- Today’s buzz word will be “depth”. Watch. Last night was not an indictment of the team’s depth. No team has a good second or third unit. And the Besrs played almost a quarter with their 2s against the Pats 1s.
- But the Bears have zero depth at the two areas I’ve been pointing out all spring: secondary and OL. It’s why they are a year away from contending.