It’s officially game week for the Chicago Bears! The team is gearing up for their first preseason contest of the year on Saturday and returned to the practice field at Halas Hall following an off day.
The Bears ditched the pads for this practice, only running drills in shells, but it was still a competitive session that provided valuable information leading into the preseason opener against the Tennessee Titans. It was also the debut for new edge rusher Yannick Ngakoue, who sported his No. 91 jersey.
I was able to take in practice on Tuesday and here is what I observed during the nearly two hour practice.
1. Yannick Ngakoue was left out of team drills
Ngakoue, the Bears newest pass rusher was in attendance for the first time since he signed his one-year, $10.5 million deal last week but he wasn’t on the field all that much. Ngakoue was held out of 11-on-11 drills and only participated in individual work. It makes sense considering he’s still ramping up but it’s clear his abilities haven’t diminished.
During individual drills, Ngakoue demonstrated plenty of quickness and burst coming out of his stance. His speed is evident in those drills and I’m sure it will come out when the games get going. He’ll get ramped up and get more involved in team drills but even the small sample size we’ve seen should have fans excited.
2. Justin Fields has a livelier ball
Quarterback Justin Fields continues to be under the microscope during training camp. Everyone wants to know how he’s progressing in Year 2 of Luke Getsy’s offense. The good news is the tweaks that were made to his game over the last year or so are starting to show in a positive way. Now that we’re well into camp, it’s clear Fields is throwing a livelier ball. He went 7-for-8 in 7-on-7 drills, only missing his first pass of the drill to Robert Tonyan before completing the last seven. There’s more zip, it’s more accurate, and he’s going through his progressions much faster. In a word, it looks natural.
That wasn’t always the case for Fields last year. Whether it was in camp or during the regular season. There isn’t as much of a hitch in his throwing motion and he’s trusting what he’s seeing. As you’ll see in a minute, it’s still not perfect but he’s making throws that we didn’t see this time last year.
3. The deep ball needs some work
While Fields was effective and efficient when it came to the intermediate passing game, the same couldn’t be said for the deep ball. Fields and the offense struggled to connect in that area. He had a slight underthrown ball intended for Darnell Mooney that was picked off by Tyrique Stevenson. The rookie high pointed the ball to get the pick.
Later on, Fields failed to connect with Chase Claypool down the right sideline, though there was a flag on the play. A few moments later, there was a ball thrown deep for Equanimeous St. Brown but Fields threw it way out of bounds. The only connection Fields had down the field was with Moore.
It’s an interesting development considering the deep ball was one of Fields’ strengths coming out of college and early on in his career. It’s not all on him either but it’s an area that could use some refining after reading some reports from the last few days and seeing it with my own eyes on Tuesday.
4. Tyler Scott rebounded after his drops
Rookie wide receiver Tyler Scott has earned a reputation for obliterating defenders with his quickness of the line, but also dropping passes. For the first part of practice, that was on full display. During 1-on-1s, Scott juked Jaylon Johnson out of his cleats on a double move in the end zone and dropped an easy pass. It was par for the course unfortunately, but to his credit, Scott turned things around as practice continued.
Scott came up with a couple nice grabs during 11-on-11s, the first of which was a bullet as he was coming across the field. Scott turned upfield and raced all the way down to the end zone, even though the defenders stopped giving chase. He’s completing every play all the way through.
His best catch was a strike from Fields in the two-minute drills, where Fields found him coming across the middle for a third-down completion leading to a field goal as the clock wound down. Scott had to adjust for the ball a bit, which was good to see considering his struggles. Things started off on a rough foot but as practice wore on, Scott got going in a big way.
5. Promising reps from the Bears young tackles
While I was zeroed in on the quarterbacks and wide receivers for much of the day, I made it a point to watch more of the offensive line play and I was pleased with what I saw from the young tackles. At multiple points, Braxton Jones and Darnell Wright made plays that stood out in a positive way.
For Jones, he was doing well in protection for the most part but there was one rep in particular that caught my eye. Defensive tackle Andrew Billings went against him on one play, using a bull rush to try and get past him. Jones stood his ground and allowed Fields to get the ball out in time. Protecting against the bull rush was a weakness in Jones’ game last year so it’s good to see him succeed in that aspect, even if it was just for one play.
In Wright’s case, I was enamored by his quickness and ability to move off his blocks on certain reps. On one play, he was lightning fast in shifting his feet and hands in pass protection give Fields some time. He didn’t stone wall anyone on that play but the speed and agility show why general manager Ryan Poles was set on him as the team’s top draft choice. He’s going to be a very intriguing watch when preseason games begin.
6. Fields was clutch and fired up in the two-minute drill
As you know, it was an up-and-down day for Fields and the offense. But things came together at the end during the two-minute drill and it had the quarterback fired up. The Bears first-team offense was working its way down the field and Fields was finding his receivers to move the chains. Moore and Scott did the heavy lifting and after Fields’ final completion, he was able to clock the ball with just 0.6 seconds left. That had Fields excited, who fist pumped his way off the field.
The result was good, but the process was a bit clunky. The offense was penalized at the start and a play needed to be blown dead because of a would-be sack. It seemed as if time would run out with no points but Fields rallied, showing what he can do in those “win now” moments. After arguably not seeing enough of those last season, it was good to see that in camp.
7. Cairo Santos was solid at the end of practice
Earlier in the day, the Bears announced they waived kicker Andre Szmyt, all but indicating that Cairo Santos will once again handle kicking duties. The veteran celebrated the news by going 5-of-6 at the end of practice during the two-minute drills.
Following Fields’ clutch drive, Santos kicked a 50-yard field goal with ease as time expired. He kicked a few more field goals with the second and third-team offenses, missing just one in total. His leg looked good, both with distance and with accuracy. You never want to be worried about a kicker in training camp and thankfully, Santos isn’t giving fans a reason to doubt him.
