Smith doing a little poppin’
Rookie linebacker attends first practice in full pads
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — If there were an artificial deadline for the Bears to sign Roquan Smith so he could have a chance to be ready to play in the Sept. 9 season opener at Lambeau Field, Tuesday afternoon was pretty darn close.
For Smith to have a chance of playing against the Packers, he pretty much needed to be on one of the buses headed from Halas Hall to O’Hare, where the Bears flew to Denver for joint practices with the Broncos. Those sessions began Wednesday morning on a perfect summer day with plenty of sunshine but not too much heat.
Smith, the inside linebacker the Bears drafted eighth overall, was able to work up a sweat rotating in with the second team defense. It was his first time in full pads since Georgia’s overtime loss to Alabama in the national championship game on Jan. 8.
“I felt great,” Smith said. “That’s the way football is played. That’s why I’ve made my plays in pads. It was great just being back out and getting after it and doing a little poppin’.”
Smith’s range was evident, as it was in the spring before his contract stalemate kept him away. He called plays in the huddle, which seems like a logical task. The more he’s asked to do, the quicker he is likely to pick things up.
Smith should be prepared to call plays on a regular basis. Inside linebacker Danny Trevathan, whom the Broncos allowed to leave via free agency after their Super Bowl 50 victory in part because of his knee issues, has missed 11 games in his two seasons with the Bears.
Smith flew to Chicago late Monday and signed his contract Tuesday morning. If negotiations between the Bears and Smith had dragged on any longer, he would
have missed this week and not arrived until next week at the earliest. That would have made getting him ready for the Packers rather difficult.
It remains to be seen if Smith will see action Saturday night at Broncos Stadium at Mile High. Smith deferred to the Bears’ coaches, and coach Matt Nagy said Wednesday a decision had not been made. Whether Smith gets any snaps in Denver really doesn’t matter in the big picture. He’s likely to get ample time against the Chiefs on Aug. 25 at Soldier Field before Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace hide nearly every player who is expected to contribute this season for the Aug. 30 exhibition finale against the Bills, also at Soldier Field.
So we’re looking at the possibility of seeing two quarters of Smith doing what he does best — tackling — against the Chiefs as a warmup for the start of the season. That’s not a large sample, but it’s the Bears’ reality.
This isn’t a Smith vs. Nick Kwiatkoski competition for the job alongside Trevathan. Kwiatkoski has put together a nice summer but, at most, that’s a tiny part of the equation. It’s Smith vs. Smith for playing time against the Packers and the following weeks. His playing time will be a direct reflection of his readiness and comprehension.
“We’ll watch the tape and see how he did (Wednesday),” Nagy said. “No. 1, mentally, did he do the right stuff? And then we’ll talk to him, ‘How did you feel?’ And we’ll see if we can sprinkle in possibly the same, maybe a little bit more (Thursday). But he needs to be honest with us on how he was, and then we’ll take the defensive coaches and hear where they thought he’s at.”
Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio has proven to be creative with not just his schemes but his personnel groupings. He has a tendency to keep two inside linebackers on the field in the nickel package, replacing a defensive lineman with a slot cornerback. So it’s conceivable that Smith could debut in that role with Kwiatkoski playing in the base scheme for a little while. It’s fun, speculative material for the next 3 ½ weeks while last year’s Butkus Award winner works overtime playing catch-up.
“It’s just going to take time,” Nagy said. “When we get to the beginning of the season, we’re going to have to decide, No. 1, did he earn it? And No. 2, can he do it? And No. 3, is it the best thing for us?
“Every rookie is a little bit different. Just knowing who Roquan is and the way he handles his business — you guys all know — you know who he is and how he works. And so he knows it’s going to be a challenge. We’re right at that line, in my opinion. So we’ll test it out, and we’ll see here in the next couple days, weeks where he’s at.”
If Smith isn’t at least in the conversation for defensive rookie of the year — Browns cornerback Denzel Ward and Broncos defensive end Bradley Chubb were the only defensive players drafted ahead of him — it will have been a disappointing season. With those expectations, it’s a good thing the Bears met the deadline — real or imaginary.