FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Our experts break down first portion of Bears camp, including Cohen’s play vs. nasty ‘D’
The Bears packed up their moving trucks after practice Sunday and moved home to a renovated Halas Hall. After practicing in front of record crowds at Olivet Nazarene University, the Bears will practice in peace as they navigate their final three preseason games and prepare their 53-man roster.
The Sun-Times’ Bears experts — Patrick Finley, Mark Potash and Jason Lieser — break down the best and worst of the team’s stint in Bourbonnais:
The most impressive thing I saw in Bourbonnais was:
Finley: Tight end Ben Braunecker was a molecular and cellular biology major at Harvard. He’s smart. I’ll second what he said about outside linebacker Khalil Mack:
‘‘I consider Khalil, like, the next evolutionary step of the human athlete. He’s a combination of size, speed and strength that I’ve never seen before. When he puts his hands on you and goes for it, your whole body moves around.’’
Potash: At 28, in the prime of his prime, Mack seems like he’s in that rare stratosphere where he creates energy for his teammates and feeds off it himself. He effortlessly dominated at times. And while it’s only training camp, Mack already has proved he’s even better when the bell rings.
Lieser: Tarik Cohen running wild against the NFL’s best defense. Granted, a lot of the Bears’ work was minimal contact, but it was hard for anyone to get a hand on Cohen, who is as fast and agile as the Polaris Slingshot he rolled up in the day he arrived at Olivet Nazarene. He’ll continue to be the most exciting player in the offense this season.
How much stock do you put in quarterback Mitch Trubisky’s camp struggles?
Finley: It’s not nothing. He’s made some unacceptable throws. It’s fair to wonder how much the Bears’ ridiculous defense affects him. But because Trubisky won’t play consistently in preseason games, we’ll have to wait until the season opener to find out.
Potash: More in the final week of camp than in the first. It wasn’t a surprise that Trubisky and the offense struggled in the early going against a veteran defense that hit the ground running. But the offense never really responded with a big day. Trubisky’s inaccuracy, especially on deep balls, left room for doubt.
Lieser: Some. The good news for Trubisky is he already has proved that he’s capable. It’s a big leap from capable to gamechanger, though, and little of what he has shown in camp points toward him making that kind of move. The Bears are good enough defensively to be in contention even if Trubisky is an average quarterback. But if he plays at a top-10 level, they’ll be the favorite.
Should the Bears trade for a kicker before cut day?
Finley: Even though the Vikings gave up a fifth-rounder for the Ravens’ Kaare Vedvik on Sunday, I wouldn’t trade a significant pick — say, anything before Round 6 — for a kicker. But the Bears at least should think about it. One reason: The Jets also are looking for a kicker after Chandler Catanzaro retired Sunday. By virtue of their 2018 records, the Jets will get third choice of waived players on cut day; the Bears have to wait until No. 24.
Potash: Certainly not three weeks before cut day. After the Panthers’ Joey Slye (55, 42, 29) and Vedvik (55, 45, 26, 29) combined to go 7-for-7 on field goals in preseason openers, it’s tempting to be aggressive and get the hot guy, as the Vikings did. But it’s still early in the preseason and too early to trade for an unproven kicker. The Bears have to let this thing play out.
Lieser: Yes. That might sound crazy, considering that their 2020 stock of draft picks is depleted by the Mack trade and that they already gave up a conditional 2021 seventh-rounder for Eddy Pineiro, but they need to go all-in on this season. If kicker is the vulnerability that could unravel a championship bid, the Bears should be OK sacrificing another late-round pick to fix it with someone such as Slye.
Is coach Matt Nagy right to dismiss preseason games?
Finley: Yes. He has proof of the concept. Nagy punted on preseason games last year, and the Bears finished as the thirdhealthiest team in the NFL, according to Football Outsiders’ Adjusted Games Lost. In 2017, they were the NFL’s second-most-injured team.
Potash: It’s the growing trend in the NFL, and Nagy seems to be ahead of it. With most teams doing the same thing, the Bears are less likely to be at a disadvantage. Emphasizing health and avoiding injuries seems to be working for Nagy. And this defense gives him a bigger margin for error in almost anything he does.
Lieser: Yes. They’re pointless.
Believe the hype on this player:
Finley: Rookie David Montgomery will lead the Bears in carries, rushing yards and rushing touchdowns this season. On Saturday, Nagy strategically tried to downplay his preseason debut after the fact. Don’t believe him. The Bears know they have something special.
Potash: Linebacker Roquan Smith looks bigger, faster and much improved in pass coverage, giving every indication that he will take the biggest leap among young defenders — and maybe any second-year player in the league.
Lieser: Mack. The hype is already pretty high for a guy who is arguably the best defensive player in the NFL, but he looks even better this summer. After three All-Pro selections in his first five seasons, he still isn’t ready to coast. It gnaws at Mack that he has spent most of his career on losing teams, and he has not let up for a second this summer.
The question the Bears still must answer is:
Finley: The kicker quandary. Elliott Fry and Pineiro have been good but not special.
Potash: Can they keep tight end Trey Burton healthy? He already is being treated with kid gloves coming off sports-hernia surgery. And even when he returns, he still has to prove he can stay healthy. His absence in the wild-card game arguably was the difference. A productive tight end seems inordinately key to Nagy’s offense.
Lieser: Do they have a backup plan for Burton at tight end? The Bears can’t in good conscience go into this season blissfully assuming Burton will be good to go for all 16 games. With him coming off sports-hernia surgery and still not 100 percent, they need a contingency other than hoping for Adam Shaheen to break out.
Did camp change your opinion about the Bears’ future?
Finley: Nope. Their defense is still the most dangerous one on the planet. Their offense is a work in progress, albeit with pieces much more befitting Nagy’s scheme.
Potash: The Bears are still a playoff contender with legitimate Super Bowl hopes. But with an offense that looked shaky in camp, they also are a candidate to disappoint. It comes down to one key question: Did the defense make the offense look bad in camp, or did the offense make the defense look good?
Lieser: It reaffirmed what most people think about the Bears, which is that they have as good a shot as any team in the NFL at making the Super Bowl. It requires meticulous nitpicking to find their flaws. The defense is great, and the offense is good. That’s enough to give them a chance to win it all.