Defense will play a part in QB competition
3 things we heard from assistant coaches during a unique training camp
Chicago Bears coaches and players have spent the week getting a feel for how the in-person operations will work at Halas Hall during this unique training camp.
The Bears coordinators spoke with the media via video conference calls Thursday about what they’ve seen over the first few days since the full team reported.
Here are three things we heard from offensive coordinator Bill Lazor, defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano and special teams coordinator Chris Tabor.
1. Bill Lazor said early indications are Cole Kmet is ‘right on track’ to contribute as a rookie, but there’s more to evaluate: As part of this year’s ramp-up period to full practices, teams are limited to walk-throughs until non-padded practices begin Aug.
12. So Bears offensive coordinator Bill Lazor hasn’t seen his players go up against a defense.
However, Lazor has seen reasons for optimism when it comes to rookie tight end Cole Kmet as the second-round draft pick tries to get up to speed with limited on-field time with his new team.
Lazor said the coaches are happy with Kmet’s movement skills as he runs drills. Lazor sat in on Zoom meetings in which tight ends coach Clancy Barone quizzed Kmet and determined he was “excellent mentally.” And Lazor thinks coming from a program like Notre Dame also will help.
But he said there still will be an adjustment period as the Bears get into full practices.
“I have no doubt this guy’s going to be able to get in his stance and tell you everything he sees because he’s proven that to us,” Lazor said. “Then when the ball’s snapped and things start moving, it’s an adjustment period. Will he get it the first time? Will it be, ‘OK, I messed it up the first time, I’ll get it the second time’? Or will it take three years to develop?
“None of us knows until we get there. But it’s the same if you ask me about all of them. We’ll figure it out. My hope is pretty high right now with what we’ve seen in the meetings and (walk-throughs).” 2. Eddy Pineiro bulked up as the Bears asked him to this offseason: Special teams coordinator Chris Tabor said the result is the ball is flying off kicker Eddy Pineiro’s right foot better than it did during his first full season in the league a year ago.
The Bears tasked Pineiro with adding about eight pounds after the 2019 season, and he said in June he had gone from 179 to 187. In the process, he reduced his body-fat percentage, and the hope is that will make him even more effective on touchbacks (he was at 50% last season, ranking 25th among those with at least 50 kickoffs) and on longer field goals, which he rarely attempted.
“You can tell he is much stronger,” Tabor said. “When we went out and kicked, the ball is jumping off his foot really well.”
The Bears won’t have nearly the level of scrutiny on their kicking situation this summer as they did a year ago, especially without preseason games, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t significant room for improvement, and Pineiro will have to fend off challenger Ramiz Ahmed.
“With regards to how to apply the pressure, I think that’s in their world,” Tabor said. “It is an every-day deal. You’re charting, and we have different winds and those types of things. I also think, as we’ve discussed what he went through a year ago to where it’s at now, he probably feels — in a good way but not a comfortable way — more relaxed, if that makes any sense.
“He understands what it’s going to be like. Remember last year, he gets traded and goes into the spring, it’s a highly contested story, and then all through training camp, that whole deal, and then you win the job. This year, he understands what a season is going to feel like. So that’s why him putting on the weight and being able to handle as it gets colder and the ball isn’t flying as far, being able to use some of those attributes that he has, that is going to benefit him.
“We’re going to put pressure on him and he puts pressure on himself and that’s what I love about the kid. We have not arrived at that kicking spot. We are always a work in progress and we still have things to prove and we’re excited to get back out on the field.”
While Tabor doesn’t make roster decisions, he said the Bears would at least consider having an extra specialist or two on the practice squad, which is expanded to 16 this year, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
3. The Bears defense understands it will play a role in the quarterback competition: Yes, defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano is fully aware of the Mitch Trubisky-Nick Foles duel that will intensify when actual practices begin next week. And Pagano realizes he and his defense will need to find ways to contribute to that competition.
“We’ll have competitive periods where we’ve got to put the stress on everybody,” Pagano said, “and we’ve got to do a great job with situational stuff and setting things up.”
The Bears offensive coaches hope to test Trubisky and Foles on a daily basis with different circumstances, measuring how they handle red-zone opportunities, third-down situations and two-minute drills. From a defensive standpoint, Pagano will have his unit provide myriad looks with a variety of coverages, blitzes and disguises.
“We do enough stuff where (the offensive coaches) can come to us — Coach (Bill) Lazor, Coach (Matt) Nagy, whoever — and say, ‘Hey, look, can we get a dose of this? Can we get a dose of that?’ And vice versa,” Pagano said. “Everybody across the league is going to have to do a really good job of trying to figure out and evaluate their rosters with no preseason games.”
Pagano pointed out his defense has its own competitions for starting roles. The Bears have an opening for a second starting safety to pair with Eddie Jackson.
That battle figures to feature Tashaun Gipson and Deon Bush. At right cornerback, rookie Jaylon Johnson will be pushing for a starting role against veterans Kevin Toliver and Artie Burns.
“It’s young guys’ jobs to come in here and take old guys’ jobs,” Pagano said. “And it’s old guys’ jobs or veteran guys who have jobs to hold those guys off. There’s competition everywhere.”