Bears
- Patrick Finley at the Chicago Sun-Times on the injury to the collar bone of Marquess Wilson:
“When Marquess Wilson crashed to the ground Monday, so did the Bears’ best chance of finding a reliable wide receiver alongside two Pro Bowl performers.”
“The Bears are left with a smattering of in-house candidates to play alongside the league’s best pass-catching duo. None is as tantalizing as Wilson, whose promise outshone his two catches as a rookie.”
I would have to agree. Along with everyone else, I found this injury to be disappointing. Though reports like this one from Hub Arkush at chicagofootball.com seem to indicate he had a habit of occasionally disappearing, almost everyone acknowledged that Wilson was making plays in camp. That was enough to make him the prohibitive favorite for the number three role. Most reports seem to indicate that Eric Weems now has the inside track but I have to say that I have little faith in any of the candidates. The preseason will be interesting to watch but the guess here is that Wilson was the Bears only hope for getting more out of the position this year.
- I found this excerpt from Arkush to be interesting:
“Wilson, his right arm in a sling, explained after practice, ‘I was just trying to make a play. It’s an opportunity. Me being a receiver, I saw the ball and in my mind I said, ‘Go get it.’
“The problem, according to head coach Marc Trestman, is that diving for balls in practice is something he teaches his guys not to do. ‘That’s probably the hardest part about coaching. You hear us say it all the time: ‘Stay off the ground, stay off the ground.’
“‘Diving for balls is probably one of the most difficult things not to do when you’re a competitive player,’ Trestman conceded. ‘We promote it, talk about it a lot, but in my experience it’s very difficult to stop when a guy goes to make a play on a ball.'”
I’d say “difficult” doesn’t cover the half of it. Wilson was competing for a job. Pretty tough not to try to show what you can do when given a chance.
- Hub did also offer some words of comfort:
“It is important to note that the Trestman offense gets the bulk of its production and explosiveness primarily from two wide receiver and two tight end (one catcher, one blocker) sets with the running back heavily involved in the passing game.
“As long as Marshall and Jeffery stay upright, there is no reason to quell your optimism yet.
“But, as I wrote just the other day, should something now happen to cause one of those starters to miss meaningful time, combined with the Bears brutal first half schedule, it would leave 2014 playoff hopes twisting precariously in the wind.”
That was going to be true with or without Wilson.
- Cornerback Isaiah Frey gets one of the first mentions of his name I’ve read all camp from Rich Campbell at the Chicago Tribune. That’s not a good thing. Frey was behind Kelvin Hayden at nickel back last season and Hayden is now behind Tim Jennings.
- Adam L. Jahns at the Chicago Sun-Times quotes Ryan Mundy on playing free safety, as he did in Monday’s practice:
“‘There’s some characteristics that you could say that this is what you want your free safety to have [and] this is what you want your strong safety to have,’ Mundy said. ‘But through my experience, you have to be able to play both because throughout a game you have different formations, shifts, motions, situations. A lot can take you from a free safety to strong safety.'”
- Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune on rookie quarterback David Fales:
“As far as Fales, my best guess is he would be a practice squad candidate. If he performs well in preseason, that could change quickly. But the shift in the NFL has been to carry only two quarterbacks on the 53-man roster, especially if you have a starter you really like. It creates some roster flexibility. Maybe the Bears are more excited about Fales than I imagine. This question can be better answered in a few weeks.”
Sounds about right.
Elsewhere
- So you think listing 2 long snappers and 2 punters on the Bears depth chart instead of choosing one of each was a little cowardly? Try listing three starting runningbacks. Via Darin Gantt at profootballtalk.com.
One Final Thought
For those of you who are wondering what caused the hullaballoo over tight end Martellus Bennett and his camp fight with cornerback Kyle Fuller, here’s the video.
It doesn’t look like much to me. In fairness to the reporters on the scene, you can hear some yelling towards the end that might be the beginnings of Bennett losing control.
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