Bears training camp notes: Message sent to Nate Davis as OL’s quest for continuity continues originally appeared in NBC Sports Chicago
LAKE FOREST, Ill. – The Bears returned to work Tuesday at Halas Hall for a light workout as they begin preparations for Saturday’s preseason game against the Buffalo Bills.
Right tackle Darnell Wright and left guard Teven Jenkins returned to practice after missing padded work on Sunday. Wright split reps with Larry Borom while Jenkins practiced fully.
The return of Wright and Jenkins increases the chances the Bears will allow rookie quarterback Caleb Williams to make his preseason debut on Saturday. Eberflus said the Bears will wait until Thursday to fully assess the health of the line in front of Williams. They know it’s important for the No. 1 overall pick to get game reps, but they won’t risk his health to meet the 45-55 preseason snap limit they’ve set.
“Just being able to play,” said coach Matt Eberflus. “It’s good like that because you feel the pressure and, you know, you might get hit back there, you might get sacked and you need to be able to feel it like it’s a game. do this in every workout, but there is a benefit to having real, live reps for everyone.”
While Wright and Jenkins have returned to practice, starting right guard Nate Davis has already been a limited participant as he recovers from a strain.
During the offseason program, Eberflus said he expected Davis to be the Bears’ starting right guard this fall.
That expectation evaporated due to Davis’ long absence, unreliability and the need to find continuity in front of Williams.
“If a person is out for a long period of time and the player who is in that position is playing very well, as a starter, and doing a good job, then you create competition,” said Eberflus when asked if there was a date when Davis needed to return to maintain his starting position. “You say, hey, there’s competition. People say you can’t lose your job because of an injury. I don’t think that’s true. I think if the guy that’s playing there gives our team a good look and It’s a good benefit for him to be in that position, so it’s a competition or the other guy can take over.”
The message is clear: if you want to maintain your starting right position, you have to get on the field and stay there.
Since Davis left, the Bears have experimented with different offensive line combinations in front of Williams.
They put Ryan Bates at right guard when Coleman Shelton was at center and rotated different players at right guard when Bates was at center.
With Davis out, the Bears’ “best five” are Braxton Jones, Jenkins, Shelton, Bates and Wright. There’s a good chance they’ll be “top five” even when Davis is healthy.
The Bears still have 33 days until their Week 1 opener against the Tennessee Titans. It’s early, but the Bears know they can’t wait long to find the five who will guard Williams.
“You want continuity and consistency, for sure,” Eberflus said. “That’s what you want to get to and that’s certainly the case. We will go as fast as we can to make that decision, but we will also be patient and go as slowly as necessary to make the right decision. I think it’s important that you look at it this way. We certainly want to solidify it, but sometimes injuries factor into that, where you get opportunity and position flexibility based on that. Not everyone is healthy all the time. But yeah, we definitely want the consistency to be there as quickly as possible.”
On the field Tuesday, the Bears focused on red zone work and situational drills.
The offense had three pre-snap penalties in the red zone (two false starts, one delay of game).
Williams’ best moment in the red zone came when he extended the play and found DJ Moore in the corner for a touchdown.
The Bears’ offense struggled during the situational first period. They are backed up near their own goal line and tasked with getting a first down to give Tory Taylor room to shoot.
D’Andre Swift ran for no gain on first down and Williams’ next two passes fell incomplete.
Eberflus had the offense repeat the drill, and Williams hit Moore for a 15-yard gain on a slant to give Taylor more room to shoot.
The Bears finished the day with a two-minute game-ending drill.
The offense started with the ball at their own 30-yard line with 1:20 left, trailing by three.
Williams opened practice with a 17-yard completion to Moore near midfield.
After a pass batted down at the line and a 4-yard run by Swift, the Bears faced third-and-6 with 45 seconds left and time running out. Williams grabbed the ball and was immediately released by defensive end Austin Booker.
Williams avoided the run and ran down the sideline for a gain of 7 and a first down.
A 4-yard pass to Swift on first down forced the Bears to use their only timeout with just over 20 seconds remaining. On second-and-6, Williams hit tight end Gerald Everett over the middle for a gain of 9. The quarterback brought everyone to the line and punted the ball with three seconds remaining to bring up Cairo Santos for a game-tying field goal, which he drilled. .
Here are more notes from day 13 of camp:
– The Bears will experiment with Velus Jones Jr. at running back during this training block. Eberflus said offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and his staff approached Jones with the idea, and the wide receiver was “open” to making the move.
“He has a lot of talent,” Eberflus said. “He’s open to moving, again, like we talked about, I think maybe it was the last time we visited him, you know, if you’re on the fringes of the roster or you’re a guy who’s competing for the fifth, sixth receiver spot. , at quarterback, whatever it is, the more you can do, if you’re a four-core guy on special teams, the more you can utilize your talents throughout the base of the team, I believe that’s a good thing. for you, so that’s what he’s doing.”
After this week, the Bears will reevaluate Jones’ role to determine whether he moves forward as a running back or wide receiver.
– Davis, cornerback Kyler Gordon, safety Jaquan Brisker, defensive end Montez Sweat, defensive tackle Andrew Billings, cornerback Tyrique Stevenson, running back Roschon Johnson, defensive end Jacob Martin, linebacker Noah Sewell and running back Ian Wheeler did not participate in Tuesday’s match. practice.
Gordon has been absent the past two weeks due to what the Bears characterized as tension.
Sweat, Billings, Brisker and Stevenson missed the final week of action.
– The Bears will be on the field Wednesday as they try to prepare for Saturday’s game at Buffalo.
