Third Preseason Game Day Thread
It is not a dress rehearsal. People should stop calling it a dress rehearsal. Dress rehearsals are attempts to recreate exactly what the performance of the play will be. Coaches don’t game plan these third preseason games and they won’t put anything on tape their week one opponent will utilize.
But here is some stuff you can look at.
(1) The most alarming moments of this week’s podcast with Adam Jahns was the concern in his voice when discussing Kyle Fuller. If Fuller does not perform to a solid level in 2015, the Bears secondary has a chance to be historically awful. He could use a decent performance in August to set the stage for September and this Saturday night he’ll get an opportunity against one of the league’s best receivers, A.J. Green.
(2) Right tackle. You can look over there but don’t look too closely.
(3) Eddie Goldman played far deeper in the second preseason game than I expected or would have liked him to. But it might be interesting to see the big monster out there with the first stringers this weekend, clogging the middle of the line to set the young linebackers free.
(4) Injuries. The Bears have ailing wide receivers, an ailing and aging left tackle, a suspended nose tackle…etc. If they are going to make anything of note out of the 2015 season, it would be helpful to put a decent roster together for their three difficult games to open the season.
I am heading to Ireland for the next two weeks. But through the magic of the internet I will be posting right up until Saturday. Andrew Dannehy will be writing previews for each of the other teams in the NFC North next week and Reverend Dave may even be weighing in from time to time.
I will return on Monday September 7th with my annual Fifty Prognostications, Pontifications & Ponderings on the 2015 NFL Season and then we’ll dive into the 2015 season.
Presented without comment, from PFT:
“It’s difficult to lose a guy like that in a meaningless game,” Rodgers said, via ESPN.com. “I think a lot of players around the league probably do [dislike preseason games]. At least cut it down, maybe, to a couple.”
Okay, one comment. He’s right. Players don’t want these games. Fans don’t want to pay for these games. But none of this will change until the players go into a labor negotiation with ownership and actually negotiate. You know, ask for stuff and then fight for that stuff.
On this episode of the nation’s most popular podcast between a Bears blogger and a Bears beat, Adam Jahns tell us:
Today we will ask five questions for this evening as the Bears and Colts embark upon a useless (couldn’t help myself) exercise wherein each team tries not to get injured.
#5 How will the depth chart shake up behind Matt Forte at running back, and does Senorise Perry have a real chance to be productive on offense for the Bears?
#4 Is Sherrick McManis going to find his way into the starting lineup by Labor Day?
#3 Am I still dreaming or is this Shea McClellin stuff still happening?
#2 Do the Bears have a capable second safety on the roster?
#1 Are the days of Jordan Mills at right tackle severely numbered?
Pete Prisco is not for everybody’s taste but he is for mine. He, unlike many other national football writers, does the work. He studies every game. He evaluates players based upon his eyes not the consensus belief.
I strongly encourage Bears fans to take a few moments and read his entire column on Jay Cutler by CLICKING HERE. Here are some excerpts.
On his status with media & fans…
“I don’t think the people who see him on the sidelines see the real Jay,” said Bob Clayton, his high school coach. “They see the guy who they think doesn’t like playing, a guy who gets mad on the field. It’s just that he’s such a competitor.”
When I asked Cutler about all the negative talk, and his status as the most-persecuted quarterback in the league, he laughed loudly.
“I think I used to (let it bother me),” he said. “Now I am at a point where I really like the coaches I am with. I like the players in the locker room. That’s where my concentration is each and every day, just trying to get better with those guys. That’s all I can worry about.”
On the potential of his being traded…
You read the headline. You don’t need a lede.
Andrew Luck loves the tight end position and has two pretty good ones in Coby Fleener and Dwayne Allen. Luck attacks the middle of the field with both players and McClellin’s physical purview is now that very same region.
Here is a situation where NFL coaches should truly embrace the practice nature of these games. Why doesn’t John Fox call over to Chuck Pagano and say, “Hey Chuck, do me a favor. Once or twice over the first few drives, attack my middle linebacker in the passing game. We’re trying to see what he has in coverage.” Then Chuck could turn around and do the same. This would actually serve to make both teams better.
Instead they’ll all call a bunch of random plays and hope the players they need to evaluate get involved. Someone will get hurt for the year and fans will still argue with me about the importance of summertime reps.
Side note: Rookie Adrian Amos starting is also of interest but what he does Saturday night means very little. The Bears aren’t playing Amos because they want to. They’re playing Amos because, well, what’s the difference?
John Fox has assumed command of the 2015 Chicago Bears without running away from the defensive disasters of the previous two campaigns. He is not taking a “those weren’t my teams, I don’t worry about them” approach. He is now the head coach of this proud franchise and seems to have accepted with that role all of the organization’s history as his own. From Adam Jahns’ piece in the Sun-Times:
The strongest message is on the binders of the defensive players: ‘‘Things must change. Be part of the solution, not the problem.’’
What must change is the passivity that has defined Bears defense for longer than a decade. Lovie Smith, while certainly an able-minded defensive coach, frustrated fans with his soft, Tampa-2 approach. During his tenure the Bears defense always seemed willing to allow the opposing offense to dictate the terms of play, waiting for mistakes instead of creating mayhem. Mel Tucker attempted to execute the same concepts, only with older and oft-injured versions of once great players.
51-23.
55-14.
On two nights in front of the nation, this decade of passivity reached its version of rock bottom. It is from those depths from which Fox must operate. And his acknowledging the existence of those depths is the first step in what will surely be a lengthy recovery.
A rather mundane and boring training camp gave way to drama over the last half week. Let’s dive in.
From a Tweet by Tribune beat Dan Wiederer:
The Bears bungled how they framed this Kevin White injury to the public from the start. Still not sure what they hoped to gain w secrecy.
Wiederer was not alone over the last few days. Many of the Chicago sports media were bitching and moaning about the secrecy surrounding the Kevin White injury. But here’s the truth:
I love em.
