In case some of you guys missed the game, this dude Mattydubs puts in the grind for us and shows us some highlights from our rooks.
And if you missed the Austin Booker bonanza.
Twit of Tues
Category: NFL, Bears, Twitter, YouTube, GIF
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PS Game #1 Plays
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What I’m Looking for in Bears’ PS Game #1
Little to TBH.
I don’t even expect the starters to play much, if at all. Matt Eberflus didn’t set much of a high standard, so Ben Johnson only has to avoid looking totally lost.
Speaking of which, history has empirically proven that winning/losing in PS is mostly irrelevant.
So, in no particular order:
1. Look sharp.
No sloppy PS penalties – illegal motions, delay of games, offsides, subs running in/out late, lining up wrong, terrible TOs…
Get the basics right. Football 101.
2. On D, some sort of pressure from the Dline. I don’t care who, but SOMEBODY must crush. Word is Sweat has been making Oline sweat, so it would be sweet if he returned to form. However, I’m very curious about the new crew:
Dayo, Jarrett, even UDFA Carlton Xavier
[Too bad about Shemar Turner].
Naturally, zero in on Booker as well.
3. Oline? Well, Moses Christ – it’s basically all rebuilt, so all of them?
Well yes, but in particular I wanna see if Trapilo isn’t weak or cement-footed. I need to see he belongs [no Kiran 2.0].
Same for Kiran – at this point he’s gotta prove he’s not a lost cause.
Also of interest will be how Newman handles himself and if he plays Center.
I loved the edge Bill Murray brought. See if he’s still got that fire.
4. HB, well, we all want to see if Monangai is too small/slow/brick-handed, or if he can be our Pacheco.
Everyone forgets about Ian Wheeler, but he’s going to be battling for a roster spot.
They both need to be able to pick up a blitz.
5. WR – All eyes on Burden. If he’s healthy and up to date. Can he separate at the NFL level? Will his YAC translate? Never know. Every year we seemingly get a new “Deebo” yet it never materializes [hello Treylon Burks].
Been hearing mucho about Olamide Zaccheaus , so draw a Madden circle on him.
6. TE. C’mon now. LOVELAND. The first “wow” pick of the draft. He better look at least as good as Greg Olsen. No pressure.
7. LB/Secondary is more or less set, still Hyppolite was a big head-scratcher for many, so highlight him on program. Will his 4.4 speed translate? Can he stack and shed? Does he flash instincts?
I was curious about Frazier who allegedly knocked the socks off Halas brass on his rookie visit; however, he’s missed a lot of camp [personal reasons], so I don’t believe we’ll see much of him.
8. On specials. Just don’t fuck up. Can Taylor nail a coffin-corner? Cairo make anything beyond 53? [he ended on a high note, that’s for damn sure].
WTH are our returners again?
9. Misc. Bagent!
10. Whatever the new rules are. From the HOF game, it seems they’re finally implementing some sort of chip system.Mostly though, I can safely speak for all Beardom when I say the overriding goal of all PS Games:
STAY FREAKING HEALTHY! -
Camp Took a Bad Turner
Padded practices are here, but unfortunately whatever rosy reports we’re getting has been somewhat dimmed by the news that Shemar Turner, the Bears’ 62nd overall pick, severely injured his ankle and is out for a minimum of a month.
That’s a bummer since many like myself had high hopes for his rookie campaign. Heck, Greg Gabriel comped him to Tommie Harris!
Won’t be T-Harris on one ankle, and ankles are notoriously easy to re-injure especially if rushed back.
I had a friend who seemed to sprain his ankle every other month once he suffered his first severe sprain. I’m no Dr., but from my experience they seem to work like concussions or shoulders popping out. After that first major one, it seems much easier to reaggravate going forward.
I’m not so certain where this leaves the Bears at DT. They aren’t exactly thin, but Andrew Billings is big, 30, and coming off an injured ’24 season. If he or Grady Jarrett go down, we’ll be seeing way more of Zach Pickens or the immortal Chris Williams in the mix.
Last week I would’ve bet Pickens wouldn’t even make the cut. Now? Not so sure.
Maybe Christian Wilkins, freak or not, becomes more of an option.
I mean, Charles Haley used to jerk off in the locker room and meetings while talking about teammate wives!
What’s a little Wilkins’ forehead kissing from time to time?
[Guess we should ask WHICH head Wilkins was trying to kiss though…nttawwt]
In other news, here’s Greg Gabriel’s in-depth breakdown of padded practices.Transcribing or even summing up would take too much writing, but Gabriel basically echoed what I wrote yesterday.
Don’t get too carried away by the micro.
For instance, we heard over the weekend that Montez Sweat came in practically untouched.
Oh oh, time to worry about Darnell Wright!
Then later it was reported that was by design.
Oh, NVM!
A lot of times the coaches are making it harder than it might otherwise be. It’s like Maverick hitting Mach-10 then pushing it. Sometimes gotta crash and burn to find out where the limits are.
That’s what summer practices are for.
Other tidbits.
1. Vets tend to pace themselves in July. Roberto Garza was an infamous ‘pacer’. He asked Lovie once, ‘You want me to last 16 games? During the season is when I’ll give it all’
2. Gabriel seems to think that Kiran Amegadjie won’t make a good OG. ‘He’s got 36+” arms. In my experience, olinemen with arms that long tend to struggle inside. It’s that much harder to get their arms up in a split second’
3. Thinks Austin Booker’s frame is a bit too slim, and deep dish ain’t going to change that.
4. Georgie ain’t bringing back the Honey Bears; however, the obscure trivia I didn’t know?
Apparently the Bills would only hire cheerleaders [the Jills] who were married!
I guess the logic was – cut down on player hanky panky.
That’s funny.
If you prefer a quick concise Bears’ update, view this one instead.Tweet of the day:
RIP
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Camp, July 28th
We’ll likely get more info today, but not much happened over the weekend. More of the usual ‘camp reports’ which should be taken with a gigantic grain of salt since no one really knows the coaching agenda.
I once heard a story that Bill Parcells warned the coaching staff the day BEFORE practice that he was really going to lay into the offensive line because, well, for Bill Parcells’ reasons.
Sure enough, practice ensued, and of course some olinemen fucked up because, ya know, it’s practice, and Parcells right on cue just goes off on the hapless mark and punishes the line.
Parcells shoulda got an academy award for it.
The coaches all must’ve been dying inside, but they played their part.
Now if you were covering the Gmen in the 80s and saw this, you’d write some headline like:
“Parcells Furious with Underperforming Offensive Line! Is it time to worry?”
I mean, it was theatre. A lot of coaching IS micromanaged theatre.
So keep that in mind next time Ben Johnson goes off on the offense, or throws some shade at a player on the podium. Sometimes it’s just a way to motivate or squeeze the most out of talent, nothing more.
With that in mind, here’s some camp catch-up.But perhaps the biggest ‘Hot Take’ was Dan Orlovsky arguing that it’ll likely take YEARS for Caleb Williams to master Ben Johnson’s offense, so fans shouldn’t expect much out of him this season. Lotta Bear fans didn’t want to hear THAT.
In non-Bears news, the Christian Watkins saga got freakier. Apparently he wasn’t cut just because of meds, but some odd incident with a teammate no one really wants to talk about. Same ole Raiders…
Twit of the day
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Camp, July 25th
Tis the time of year to overreact to every dropped pass, every soft muscle injury, every INT, every obscenity a coach shouts…
We all know the drill. I recall summer practices. They were brutal. We practiced on a field that was about as much dirt as grass. It was at least 90 degrees often, sun melting the helmets we inherited from the 70s. I can still smell the pungent stink from the sticky white padding.
Our coaches made us do laps, hit the sleds, and if we screwed up, 100 yard crabcrawls which still makes my body quiver 30 years later.
My position coach would line-up CBs vs WRs to box 3 times, or just hit each other as hard as possible for no discernible reason. I suspect they had bets going on.
They barked at us to back-peddle uphill. My cleats snagged a rock, and I stumbled. Secondary coach, sporting his wrap-around Oakleys whilst chewing sunflower seeds, sneered, “Had to be a corner back…”
One of the more memorable drills was our position coach [a former pitcher] standing about 5 yards away, making us put our hands up like a diamond, then throwing the football at our face as fast as possible.
We had to take our off helmet for this drill, so if the football squeezed through your hands, it hit your face full force.
Then we had hell week, aka, two-a-days.
Good times!
I sometimes wonder if the modern NFL player is put through all that misery. Not likely. They’re probably way more scientific, focused, and detailed than what mustachioed men in spandex shorts inflicted on us mere amateurs.
One undeniable effect though:
Trauma-bonding
In Bears’ news…Word around the campfire is that Ben Johnson does not suffer tomfoolery. He seems to be getting frustrated at the offense not clicking how it should.
That’s fine by me.
In fact, I don’t really care about ‘coaching style’. The running joke is that if the former HC was fat, the next one will be skinny.
Whether the HC is a hard-ass, player’s coach, cutting edge, or old school…
I don’t really give a damn.
These are pros getting PAID. Give fans results, and they’re not going to quibble if it’s Andy Reid, Bill Belichick or Ted Lasso.We found our new Dan Braverman!
I’d be remiss to not relay that Raiders have shockingly cut Christian Wilkins. He’s definitely enticing, but apparently they disagreed on whether he needed surgery or not. Bears’ DT room seems full already, so I’m not expecting him at Halas anytime soon.
Some Swift
Misc. Cool plays!
Hey, having Pope on Bears’ side can’t be bad, right?
Alrighty then, enjoy your weekend, jabrones.
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Camp Commences, etc
Things are ramping up. Camp started, and nearly all Bears have checked in. One notable absentee is Jaylon Johnson who is on the NFI [none football injury] list and will likely miss a few weeks.
How injured JJ truly is, who knows? Maybe this buys Ryan Poles time to come up with a solution to a possibly disgruntled JJ.
My solution?
Pay him for turnovers. $500K per FF, INT, or even strip sack. JJ gets a bunch of those and suddenly his contract is…saucy.
This won’t happen. Or heck, maybe Poles already bumps his contract based on TOs, but it would incentivize, that’s for sure; besides, given that JJ is not exactly Prime Time, Poles won’t have to worry much about breaking the bank.
Bears made some corresponding moves:Tanoh Kpassagon is a big boy [6’7, 290]. I mean, how much Arby’s would Austin Booker have to eat to get that yoked?
Tre Flowers is also big for a CB/S [6’3, 200]. We’re beginning to get a feel for the template both Allen and BJ prefer, and it seems to be, “The bigger, the better” [insert ‘that’s what she said’ joke here].
Here’s a quick breakdown on the moves,Oh, and to top it off, the goal for Caleb is to hit 4k passing, 70% comp, scoring on drives, winning games, curing cancer, and finally releasing GTA 6…
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Jaylon Johnson Wants a Raise?
So, all three Bear 2nd RDers are locked up. Only Burden negotiated a fully-guaranteed contract, but that seems to be what the market dictated.
NFL is a deadline driven business. No coincidence all the dominoes started falling right before camp started. I’m sure every team acted independently in nearly a 24-hr window[wink wink].
Maybe the agents received extra lap-dances to close the deals.
However, just as one drama is closed, another possibly opens.
Apparently, Jaylon Johnson is not content with his current contract and didn’t report to camp. [edit. JJ now now on NFI list. Won’t be expected for a few weeks].If you dig into the numbers, you can understand JJ’s gripe.
I’m all for players getting paid, but even for me it’s hard to get behind players ‘holding out’ after they signed the dotted-line. A part of me grumbles, “You signed the fucking contract. Play it out.” though I know the opposing argument always follows, “Oh, and it’s ok when GMs dump players before their contract’s over?”
I suppose the easiest solution might be [shorter?] fully-guaranteed contracts.
Say 3-yr fully-guaranteed.
Players take on the risk of injury, but the payoff is that 3 yrs later, the market will pay more.
An extreme version of this was Derrell Revis who, if memory serves, basically signed one year deals [for like three seasons] betting on himself and made out like a bandit.
Of course the flipside to that is a player’s achilles going out or an awful season, then next year his market value won’t be as high, which is why most prefer those longer 5 year deals.
The GMs tend to protect themselves in the last two-ish years of such deals, so if they cut said player, cap penalty is minimal.
That’s the GM-Agent dance as of now, but maybe that model needs to change.
Either way, it seems most of the team is reporting for camp, so that’s great news for the Bears and if Jaylon Johnson shows up to camp, it’ll be much-a-do about nada.
As always, stay tuned… -
News! Trapilo and Turner Finally Sign
So, actual Bears’ news, and it’s 2/3rds good!
I’m sure you heard, but Ozzy Trapilo and Shemar Turner both signed, leaving only Luther Burden III unsigned[update. Burden is now signed to fully guaranteed contract].
This was more or less expected. Still, it’s comforting to finally lock ’em down and not worry about some prolonged camp hold-out for three rookie prospects.
Most surmise guys like Burden are waiting for Tyler Shough to sign to create some precedent or benchmark to go off, but who knows? Wide receivers tend to be prima donnas, and Burden in specific may believe he’s a 1st RDer.
One reason Luther fell though was ‘character concern’, as in ‘Burden seemed entitled and loafed his final college season’, so it’s understandable Halas may be reluctant to fully guarantee his contract especially after Quinshon Judkins was arrested on a misdemeanor battery and domestic violence charge.
Guess us fans will have to wait, but hopefully it gets done before he misses any camp.
Boy, almost makes me miss the good ole days when Cliff Stein would wrap up the entire rookie class lickety-split.
There’s actually lots more NFL news dropping. Here’s a brief synapsis.Lloyd Howell, corporate hack, has resigned. That’s not going to make a lot of waves, but I think it’s a great move for the players going forward. To say Howell had some ‘conflict of interest’ is an understatement. Hopefully the NFLPA hires a real executive director who cares more about the players than own bank account.
This meme is flooding the interwebz. Apparently this CEO got caught with his sidepiece at a Coldplay concert. Maybe they were more embarrassed being caught at a Coldplay concert…
Beep Beep…Beep beep…
BREAKING NEWS [7/18/25]
Luther Burden III now signed, fully guaranteed, meaning he’ll report to camp [if healthy]. -
TBT. Hester-v-Rams
Still slow, so enjoy some HOFer Devin Hester.
I always liked Kam Chancellor. He’s one of those safeties MB loved. Yuge, athletic, and mean. I’m surprised he didn’t suffer as many severe concussions as Brisker.
Speaking of which…
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Mike Alstott
Still quiet on the Northern front. I think I read that once the Bears lost Khari Blasingame, their season went down hill, so that just gives me an excuse to post Mike “Juggernaut” Alstott highlights. I do wonder if Ben Johnson will utilize a full-back, or if he’s trying out linemen to do spot FB duties like Doug Kramer last season.
Random other sport’s thoughts.
The other football – U.S. vs Mexico was entertaining. I never played much soccer growing up, so like many Americans, didn’t give it much thought ’til the World Cup hit Pasadena in 1994; then I experienced first hand the electric atmosphere it could generate. I saw a bunch of Germans, Brazilians, etc getting on top of lampposts waving their flags, just jubilant having a good ole time. Of course if they do that now they’d likely get deported, but I digress…
Something about soccer lends itself to international pageantry. The low scores might turn-off a lot Americans, but I think they build up tension. I mean, imagine shouting “Gooooooooaaaaallll” 15 times a game…just not the same.
Besides, hockey and some baseball games can be just as low-scoring, yet equally entertaining as long as the teams are good. Just takes a bit more nuanced appreciation like a stout beer.
One thing that caught me off guard. [spoiler alert]. Mexico scored a goal, but was flagged “offsides,” so goal didn’t count. In the past, this would’ve been an international incident and in some countries motivated rioting and conspiracy theories.However, soccer now implements replay. It’s a rather fast process too. I wish the NFL would streamline its replay system like soccer instead of showing us every angle in slow-mo like it was the Zapruder film.
Still, it’s hard for me to get TOO invested in soccer because of one MAJOR flaw.
FLOPPING
I mean, sometimes it’s like a whole team of Vlade Divacs out there, and it just kills it for me. Hard to respect “world class athletes” who go down faster than Mia Khalifa.
But when there’s not too much flopping, international soccer games can be a lot of fun, though I’m not waking up at 6AM to watch matches – that’s for damn sure!
I was also surprised that Alexi Lalas looks like this now.
Giddy up.