#4 – A Young, Interesting Backup Quarterback

Based on history there is a strong probability Jay Cutler will miss a game or two this season. And when he does, Brian Hoyer will step into the starting role and lose. Just like Clausen and Hanie and Quinn before him. Losing with the backup quarterback in today’s NFL is nothing to be overly upset about. There are very few teams, if any, that can survive losing their top talent at the most important position in professional sport. But the disappointing and disheartening part of losing with a Hoyer or Clausen is there’s nothing to be gained from the experience. It’s empty calories.

Losing with a young quarterback, a quarterback with the potential to start in the future, a quarterback who brings some excitement to the field, can actually be fun. The Dallas Cowboys didn’t want to play a single offensive snap without Tony Romo under center this season. But now playing those snaps with Dak Prescott will at least give Cowboys fans an opportunity to glimpse their possible future. (Dak’s preseason has been ridiculously over-celebrated but at least that celebration gives fans hope.) If Dallas had to go through the next two months watching Luke McCown throw footballs to the other team, they’d be checked out of the campaign by the first of October.

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#5 – ROBBIE GOULD FROM TEN YEARS AGO

The 2016 Bears are built to play close games. How so?

• They are built for a power run game. Angry guards. Good backs. A bunch of tight endy, hybrid-type players. You get the sense John Fox will be preaching about time of possession each week.
• The Bears secondary is the team’s signature weakness so good offenses will be able to move the ball. But they have terrific coverage linebackers and a solid front seven so translating those drives into seven points will be harder.
• The Bears passing game, even with Alshon Jeffery, is not designed to hit home runs. They want to play a quick-release style and get the ball in the hands of their playmakers.

A year ago, with much less talent, Robbie Gould could have extended a game against the Redskins and beaten the 49ers. He had a decent season overall but when the game was on the line, Gould was at his weakest. When 2006 Robbie walked onto the field, you could take a bathroom break and zip up with confidence. Three points were guaranteed. But those days are long gone.

The difference between seven and ten wins this season could be three kicks. But which Robbie will attempt them, 2015 or 2006?

Panic! Season over! Death! Cancel your Sunday Ticket subscription out-of-towners because Bears football will be scrap heap sport in 2016.

Here are some actual football thoughts.

(1) Whether it’s a smart move or not, the Bears clearly had no interest in showing Kevin White this preseason. I expected 3-4 bubble screens to the “rookie” just to get his feet wet in game action but Fox and Loggains didn’t see a need.

(2) Barely using White. No Eddie Royal or Zach Miller or Kyle Long, the Bears best offensive player. Not sure why anyone thinks what they saw Saturday after was the Bears offense.

(3) I didn’t notice Cornelius Edison. And that’s a good thing with the center position. And if you think I’m rewatching a preseason game, you sir are wrong.

(4)  You know where fans are going to notice Freeman and Trevathan most? The red zone.

(5) Cutler just wasn’t good Saturday. Looked completely out of sorts and inaccurate. But there were also several plays Jay would normally look to extend with his legs that he didn’t because, well, there is no earthly reason to expose yourself to hits in a practice game.

(6) If Tracy Porter misses time, I don’t know what the Bears do at corner. They don’t have the bodies. Some solid, young prospects but nobody ready to compete today. They’ll need to get to the quarterback.

(7) If the preseason showed anything relevant it showed what we already know. Bears need another offseason to get OL and secondary sorted.

I haven’t had to spend as much of the summer arguing about the meaningless of preseason football as I usually do. Partly, I think, because teams are starting to embrace the lack of meaning themselves. All one needs to do is listen to the words coming from players in post-game pressers to understand they really couldn’t give two shits about the performances and outcomes. They just want to be healthy after Labor Day.

Here’s three players worth keeping an eye on tomorrow.

Cornelius Edison, Center

From Patrick Finley in the Sun-Times:

Saturday, fully healed but aching for experience, Edison figures to start the Bears’ all-important third exhibition game. He does so with only 12 games of center experience to his name — his senior year at the Div. I-AA school, though he did win the Rimington Award, given to the nation’s best at the position, for his efforts.

“I was always confident in my abilities,” the 6-3, 309 pounder said Wednesday after practice at Halas Hall. “It just took me a longer way to get here and just made me appreciate, when I’m here, that this is meant for me. And I just gotta keep working hard no matter what my situation is.”

Ted Larsen is a backup. Nothing more. Edison should start. Is he going to make everyone forget about the summer developments of Hroniss Grasu? No. But he could be capable. And the Bears sorely need it at the position.

 Daniel Braverman, Wide Receiver

Here’s my issue with Braverman. Where does he fit?

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I had nothing to write. I asked Twitter what I should write. They gave me stuff.

@dabearsblog fuller possible move to safety if they sign a vet CB?

— nick worst (@nick_worst) August 24, 2016

I have watched every snap of Kyle Fuller’s young career and I really believe he’s at his best with his eyes on the ball, squared up to the QB. His corner skills are decent but it’s his ability to close on the football that sets him apart from young players. I see the move as possible. 

@dabearsblog how concerned you are about the secondary of the bears. Its week 3 preseason and im not sure they know whose gonna start

— randy wedo (@randywedo57) August 24, 2016

I think the secondary and offensive line are the team’s weaknesses. But the Bears front 7 is so strong I think they’ll be able to compensate for a lack of talent at the back.

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Dennis Green: “Who the hell takes the third game in the preseason like it’s bullshit?”

Me: Raises hand.

I used to believe we could get something meaningful from the third preseason game. There are dozens of reasons why that’s wrong, but the strongest was one I realized just a month ago. It doesn’t mean anything to the players who aren’t fighting for jobs or coaches.

I challenge anyone to watch a regular season game, follow it with the third preseason game and try to tell me there isn’t a significant difference in the product. I did just that a month ago, choosing to re-watch the Bears’ third preseason game against the Bengals last year. It’s just a different game.

This is true for many of the same reasons why none of the preseason games matter. Maybe there’s more game-planning in the third preseason game. Maybe teams do a bit more schematically. Maybe. But it isn’t a lot and whatever it is they do isn’t done with the same urgency as the regular season simply because it doesn’t have to be.

The Bears have most of their starters figured out already. They know what they’re doing schematically. The practice and simulation of a game-like atmosphere should help them. But this is preseason. The coach won’t lose his job, neither will the starters. It’s a practice and should be treated as such.

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The third preseason game, the What We Thought They Were game as it’s affectionately known in these parts, is a solid opportunity to try some things out. John Fox and company know who is going to be on their final 53 (with possibly 1 or 2 exceptions due to nagging injuries) and know who their starters and starting rotation will be.

One of the things they know is that Jeremy Langford is going to be the starter and if he stays healthy will be given every opportunity to be an every down back. But Langford has a foot knock and there’s no godly reason he should see the practice or game field again until after Labor Day.

Jacquizz Rodgers and Ka’Deem Carey? We know what they are. John Fox knows what they are. Both can be valuable offensive pieces but neither is going to set the league on fire.

Jordan Howard runs differently. He runs tougher. Hits the hole quicker. Looks more difficult to bring down. But he’s been looking that way against guys who will never play an important down in the NFL.

What if the Bears dropped him in with the ones Thursday night and he ran through the Kansas City Chiefs?

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BIRKETT ON PRESEASON FOOTBALL

Dave Birkett of the Free Press wrote a perfect column outlining the meaninglessness of preseason football. Here’s the first few paragraphs

Between forced season ticket buys, unwatchable second halves and pointless season-altering injuries, there are few redeeming qualities to preseason football.

But the worst part about the exhibition exercise that the NFL puts its 32 teams through four or, in some cases, five times a year is the overreaction that comes with every game.

Sure, that happens in the regular season, too. That’s the nature of our instant-gratification society.

But you don’t need to be the 2008 Preseason Champion Detroit Lions to know which games matter and which games don’t.

KEVIN WHITE’S MINDSET

Adam Jahns with quotes from Cutler:

As for White’s drop, Cutler sounded almost happy it happened. Such plays lead to more dialogue between him and the second-year receiver.

‘‘He handles it well,’’ Cutler said. ‘‘He’s always the first guy to blame himself, no matter what the situation is, so I just try to keep him positive and keep him going. There’s no point or real time for us to dwell on it. We have to move on, and he does that well.’’

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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.

Yes, tonight’s “game” between the Bears and Patriots is meaningless. But there’s things to watch.

• Here’s hoping the Bears offense scores a touchdown early. To instill confidence? No. To show improvement? Absolutely not. To shut up the Sky is Falling crowd? Yep. A touchdown drive early would force all of them to admit their week of whining was silly.
• The Daniel Braverman Boner has elevated this summer but the Bears’ quarterback is singing praise of Marc Mariani. With Eddie Royal struggling to get on the field, Marquess Wilson never on the field and the team being very cautious with Jeffery and White, don’t be surprised if Cutler looks to throw a few extra balls Mariani’s way to ensure he’s part of this offensive core in 2016.
• The night is still only about health, especially along the thin offensive line.