soulman Posted August 18, 2021 Author Share Posted August 18, 2021 (edited) Bears camp notes: Akiem Hicks exits, Andy Dalton bounces back and Khalil Mack speaks By Kevin Fishbain and Adam Jahns Aug 17, 2021 17 The Bears have yet to have a training camp practice with all 11 projected starters present on defense. They got their safeties back in recent days but are still missing their top inside linebackers. Now they might be adding defensive lineman Akiem Hicks to the list of those not practicing. For Tuesday’s practice, at least, he was unavailable. Hicks left practice before individual drills began and did not return. The Bears had no update regarding his status. In the final year of his contract, Hicks is reportedly seeking an extension. His agent, Drew Rosenhaus, has been at two Bears practices already in training camp. Adam Schefter @AdamSchefter Drew Rosenhaus, agent for Bears’ Pro-Bowl DL Akiem Hicks, has approached the team regarding an extension for his client, who is entering the last year of his contract. Rosenhaus was spotted in Chicago today and said, “Akiem wants to finish his career with the Bears, if possible.” 11:43 AM · Aug 12, 2021 3.5K 109 Copy link to Tweet Hicks is 31, but led the team with 21 QB hits last season and has looked dominant at times in camp. He has yet to speak to the media in 2021, which includes OTAs, minicamp and now three weeks of training camp. We’ll update here with any further information. Here are the rest of the news, notes and observations from Tuesday’s practice at Halas Hall: Quarterback back-and-forth Jahns: We counted just one snap for rookie Justin Fields with first-team receivers Allen Robinson and Marquise Goodwin, and it came during the final team drill. He completed a long throw down the right sideline to Goodwin. From our vantage point in the media stands, it was tough to see if Goodwin was in bounds, but some fans in the area said Goodwin wasn’t. We also saw snaps for Fields with the first-team offensive line, but only a few. For now, Fields’ work in practice is primarily with the reserves. Fishbain: And we’re still waiting to see Fields take reps against the No. 1 defense. That throw, though, was one of his better throws. He threw it to the opposite sideline and precisely, too. He had another impressive pass to Riley Ridley, ended practice with a ball that Jesse James high-pointed and another that only the tight end could get. Other than that, it was maybe Fields’ worst practice. The second-team offense seemed out of sync. He had an uncharacteristically inaccurate throw in seven-on-seven that DeAndre Houston-Carson should have picked. Jahns: In one situational drill, Dalton was clearly better. There were 53 seconds left on the clock, no timeouts and the offense trailed by a field goal. He had completions to Darnell Mooney, David Montgomery and Cole Kmet. As a result, the offense got into position for a field goal by kicker Cairo Santos, which he made. Fields’ snaps in the same drill included a pass breakup and an interception by nickelback Marqui Christian. Kevin Fishbain @kfishbain Today’s Bears training camp report from Halas Hall: On interceptions, injuries, Jason Peters, Khalil Herbert, Sam Mustipher and more Bears camp notes: Andy Dalton, Justin Fields have subpar... The top two Bears QBs exchanged interceptions Monday as key players such as Teven Jenkins and Roquan Smith remain sidelined with injuries. theathletic.com 1:57 PM · Aug 16, 2021 23 Copy link to Tweet Fishbain: I thought Dalton responded well to a rough day Monday, starting practice off with long completions on the money to Robinson and then Mooney. When the offense went into another situational drill — fourth quarter, down 14-7 with 1:46 to go — Dalton completed passes to Montgomery and Mooney but was sacked and threw two more that were incomplete. Fields went 0-for-4 in that drill, with Xavier Crawford and Kindle Vildor breaking up passes and receiver Rodney Adams dropping a pass. Jahns: Dalton was intercepted by safety Eddie Jackson in the final team drill of the day. Nagy also seemed pleased with how his defense played. That’s two days in a row that Dalton has been intercepted. Before practice, Nagy was asked how Dalton was handling the growing buzz and hype around Fields. “Andy is great,” Nagy said. “This is such a unique situation. For a guy like Andy, where I feel really comfortable in knowing that he’s comfortable in his own skin, he believes in himself and he knows that we believe in him. That’s not easy being on that sideline for that game and hearing when Justin runs out, all the cheers. I mean, let’s just face it, if that was any of us, that’s not easy. But at the same point in time, it’s a part of the business. He understands the excitement. He’s not saying, ‘Why is everyone cheering for Justin?’ He gets it. He understands it. He’s helping Justin get to this point. That’s what I love about Andy. Our teammates see that and they feel that.” Fishbain: When Tashaun Gipson was asked about defensive coordinator Sean Desai, he responded, “Man, y’all seen practice today? You all see what the defense did, right?” Clearly this was the defense’s day, but Fields didn’t get a whole lot of help from his receivers or offensive line. Dalton’s group, too, struggled in the fourth-quarter drill. Nagy is all about taking this day by day, which means the coaches will be closely evaluating how the entire offense responds in Wednesday’s practice. More from Mack Outside linebacker Khalil Mack doesn’t meet with the media often, but when he does, his conferences are full of quality sound bites. Here’s a sampling from Tuesday: On his dustup with Dolphins (and former Bears) tight end Adam Shaheen last week: “Oh man, I don’t even remember. I can’t even recall. Yeah, I like to have fun and that’s my version of having fun. We were just enjoying the time.” On one thing that’s different about new defensive coordinator Sean Desai compared to other coordinators: “I would say Sean has got a little bit more of a geeky side than any other coordinator I’ve been around. Definitely, his mind is always ******* going, so it’s definitely fun to see. But it’s definitely different from that standpoint. He’s a cool dude, but he’s definitely got that geeky side, too.” On why it’ll be fun to play in Desai’s defense: “Definitely getting to the quarterback and being able to change the game and get turnovers. Yeah, that’s fun. That’s fun to me. I don’t know who that wouldn’t be fun for. Definitely getting to the quarterback, getting more opportunities to do that.” On Desai’s personality: “He’s a different guy in general, but ultimately he’s a very personable guy when you talk to him. That’s how we have so many conversations walking through the halls and just talking and getting an understanding of each other more than anything. When you say quiet and shy, I don’t get quiet and shy from him. But I definitely get he’s a very serious guy when it comes to doing what he loves to do. That’s what I get from Sean.” On second-year outside linebacker Trevis Gipson: “Trevis has grown up tremendously as far as just fundamental things, playing the run, playing the run a little more physical, definitely getting off the ball and playing the pass. He’s doing the small things very well, but it’s up to him to take that next leap. Looking forward to seeing him grow even more from where he’s at right now.” On Fields’ preseason debut: “Oh man, that was an excellent showing of his talents. But it’s only one step in the right direction. Looking forward to seeing more out of him.” Injury report The Bears made two additions to their injury list Tuesday prior to Hicks leaving practice. Cornerback Tre Roberson was sidelined with a knee injury he suffered in the preseason game, and reserve offensive tackle Badara Traore was carted off from practice with a knee injury. Roquan Smith, Danny Trevathan, Robert Quinn, Teven Jenkins, Larry Borom, Germain Ifedi, Tarik Cohen, Josh Woods, J.P. Holtz and Ryan Nall did not practice. Nagy offered few details on any of the injured players. Regarding Smith, he said, “No news is probably good news with him.” Borom has been out for two weeks due to a concussion. “Again, every day, just trying to get a little bit better,” Nagy said about the rookie tackle. “That whole concussion protocol, to each their own on those. Again, I haven’t heard a whole lot on that, other than he’s just going through the protocols. We’ll continue to see where he’s at. When he does get out here, we want to get him going. You go back to that Family Fest, he went in there and had a great day. And then this happened. When he gets back, we got to get him going again.” D-line deep again The Bears have simply reloaded along the defensive line over the past five seasons. They’ve had mainstays in Hicks and Eddie Goldman, then Bilal Nichols, but also got major contributions from Nick Williams and Roy Robertson-Harris and from Mario Edwards Jr. last season. Joining the group this year is Angelo Blackson, who had a career year in Arizona last season, his sixth in the NFL, when he had 2.5 sacks and eight QB hits. “Just super motivated,” said Blackson when asked what clicked in 2020. “Just wanted to prove myself. Just wanted to be a guy and wanted to stand out. Just playing with relentless effort was the biggest thing for me, going out there and playing as many reps that I can play and as fast as I can play.” Chicago Bears @ChicagoBears INCOMING! D-lineman Angelo Blackson is Chicago bound. 5:28 PM · Mar 20, 2021 1K 101 Copy link to Tweet Gipson shouted out the play of the defensive line, noting how well they did against the Bears’ run game during Tuesday’s practice. It also stood out in the preseason opener. Blackson adds to that depth, and he has had a good camp, including a couple of safeties at one of the first live, padded practices. “The biggest thing for me is just being a consistent guy,” he said. “Getting in, getting the playbook down, playing with effort, playing relentlessly and making the plays that I’m supposed to make. Being a good teammate. That’s it.” Quick hits • The Bears released wide receiver Justin Hardy, their final cut to get to 85 players ahead of Tuesday afternoon’s deadline. He played 12 snaps against the Dolphins in the preseason opener and had a 15-yard reception. • Michael Joseph and Ledarius Mack were waived/injured. Joseph broke his thumb in the preseason game and Mack did not practice Tuesday. Assuming both clear waivers, they’ll revert to the injured reserve list (or the team may decide on an injury settlement with them). • Offensive tackle Jason Peters needs to go through COVID-19 protocols before he can begin practicing with his new team. Nagy was asked about what Peters can provide the team at age 39. “For right now, where he’s at, he’s a guy that when you watch the tape last year, you see a guy that still has a lot of game left in him,” Nagy said. “Are there times when he gets beat here or there? Absolutely. That’s a lot of guys in this league, regardless of how good or what your age is. But there’s a lot of great plays in there, too. And I think in our situation, we’re always going to look at everything we need to do to try to strengthen different areas. This was something that came up that we wanted to look at, and it worked for both sides.” Edited August 18, 2021 by soulman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dll2000 Posted August 18, 2021 Share Posted August 18, 2021 I am sorry. I was a huge Nagy defender for a long time. But for him to have a practice like that following the excitement and potential of that pre season performance by Fields is a bonehead move. That is as nice as I can be about it. The concern is that you are going to ruin the player with too much pressure and responsibility? How about giving him a 5th string O line in practice with 4th string WRs with limited reps? If I was a Bears media personality I would be ripping into Nagy in press conferences and on my show. Fields should be getting every rep and every waking offensive rep should be about getting him better and ready to play. We are wasting time and precious reps preparing Dalton. Everyone gets same amount of practice time by league rules. We have cut our effective practice time by a 1/3 at least preparing Dalton for season. Coaches figured out in 70s or 80s when practice rules were put in place across all of football that those who use their time most efficiently have a huge advantage. It is why every minute of practice started being planned. But some coaches - Nagy - just do things other coaches do without knowing the why it seems. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulman Posted August 18, 2021 Author Share Posted August 18, 2021 I've become more wary of Nagy and his decisions over the past two years and he's not doing much of anything to improve my opinions of him starting with becoming less forthcoming about the status of his team. I'm all for optimism provided it's also couched with honesty. He isn't. The decisions regarding how he's decided to prepare Fields to start (he claims that his objective) are puzzling. If Dalton can't prepare himself getting 2/3 of the 1st teams reps while sharing 1/3 with Fields then he's not the caliber of veteran QB he's advertised to be. Time to get serious. And my final issue with him his is egocentric insistence on calling plays. He just can't seem to shake the QB in him and become the HC he's been hired to be. The bottom line is he's not all that good at it but somehow he refuses to see that and allow others to handle play calling. I'm constantly left with the feeling the Bears offense could be far better than it is if Nagy would just shift some of his thinking and get better use of the talent he has. When he finally allows Fields to start will he restrict his natural tendencies like he did with Trubisky? It's frustrating. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Romen Posted August 18, 2021 Share Posted August 18, 2021 5 minutes ago, dll2000 said: The concern is that you are going to ruin the player with too much pressure and responsibility? How about giving him a 5th string O line in practice with 4th string WRs with limited reps? Nagy was a QB (albeit for Delaware and the Arena league), he should know better than this BS. It's being stubborn and combative with the media for no reason. "Well we have a plan..." Okay, what is it then? Because it's been a constantly changing plan since you've been here... When do we get to QB201? If I was a Bears media personality I would be ripping into Nagy in press conferences and on my show. There seems to be a lot of trepidation to do so, maybe knowing that he's off the hot seat with the owners for another couple years means they don't wanna burn that bridge? Coaches figured out in 70s or 80s when practice rules were put in place across all of football that those who use their time most efficiently have a huge advantage. It is why every minute of practice started being planned. But some coaches - Nagy - just do things other coaches do without knowing the why it seems. He's not an idiot. He said so himself. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Romen Posted August 18, 2021 Share Posted August 18, 2021 Just now, soulman said: And my final issue with him his is egocentric insistence on calling plays. He just can't seem to shake the QB in him and become the HC he's been hired to be. The bottom line is he's not all that good at it but somehow he refuses to see that and allow others to handle play calling. He thinks he's Mike McCarthy without any of the accolades. He thinks he's some QB guru because he's been a QB and has been around great ones. He has nothing to show for it, the offense was better and more balanced without him. I'm constantly left with the feeling the Bears offense could be far better than it is if Nagy would just shift some of his thinking and get better use of the talent he has. When he finally allows Fields to start will he restrict his natural tendencies like he did with Trubisky? It's frustrating. You know he has to limit them because it's not 201 yet. Force them to stay in the pocket, and chuck it deep. Don't use your legs because that's not what great QBs do (not that Trubisky ever was a good runner, but still...) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dll2000 Posted August 18, 2021 Share Posted August 18, 2021 Great coaches understand big picture. They understand what they want to accomplish in each and every practice. They have a breadth of knowledge that can adjust their scheme to their talent and strengths and weaknesses of said talent. "Don't tell me what a player can't do well, tell me rather what he does well and we will adjust to that" - Belichick I have been at practices with great coaches who win wherever they go with any team and I have been at practices with coaches who are mediocre at best. The major difference is the details. The great coaches don't just run plays in practice and go to next play and oo and ah at a great catch or INT. Everything matters. The stem. The break. The O line footwork. The hand placement. The strike point. The balance. The RB steps. The reads. What your hands looked like during the catch. Your eyes. Everything. The mediocre coaches run a play and go to next play and yell nothingisms about previous play that help no one. You can attack the details in real time and still do fast reps. You are always working fundamentals and details of everything all the time. It doesn't mean you are yelling or coaching a Jason Peters. That is a waste of time. Jason Peters knows what he doing, he knows better than you do, if he isn't doing it, it is because he can't. But you are coaching the people who don't know. All the time. Not in film later. Now while it is fresh. Don't stop practice, but be right there in their ear right after the play. Keep things moving. Getting better by watching and standing around is stupidest thing I have ever heard. If I go to a high school through youth practice and there are ANY kids standing around at any point for more than 15 seconds I know that coach sucks. If there is a line for a drill that is more than 2 deep I know that coach sucks. or he just doesn't know how to do it right. Which really amounts to same thing. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulman Posted August 18, 2021 Author Share Posted August 18, 2021 25 minutes ago, The_Romen said: 38 minutes ago, dll2000 said: The concern is that you are going to ruin the player with too much pressure and responsibility? How about giving him a 5th string O line in practice with 4th string WRs with limited reps? Nagy was a QB (albeit for Delaware and the Arena league), he should know better than this BS. It's being stubborn and combative with the media for no reason. "Well we have a plan..." Okay, what is it then? Because it's been a constantly changing plan since you've been here... When do we get to QB201? If I was a Bears media personality I would be ripping into Nagy in press conferences and on my show. There seems to be a lot of trepidation to do so, maybe knowing that he's off the hot seat with the owners for another couple years means they don't wanna burn that bridge? Coaches figured out in 70s or 80s when practice rules were put in place across all of football that those who use their time most efficiently have a huge advantage. It is why every minute of practice started being planned. But some coaches - Nagy - just do things other coaches do without knowing the why it seems. He's not an idiot. He said so himself. No he's not an idiot. He's a stable genius. 🙊 🙄 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Romen Posted August 18, 2021 Share Posted August 18, 2021 4 minutes ago, soulman said: No he's not an idiot. He's a stable genius. 🙊 🙄 America has plenty of those running around... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulman Posted August 18, 2021 Author Share Posted August 18, 2021 I'll lay this out here now and take my chances with having to eat crow later on. I believe Justin Fields is gonna be the guy who exposes the flaws and limitations in Matt Nagy's schemes and play calling. I see no reason why Fields can't quickly rise to the level of a Patrick Mahomes or Russell Wilson unless like in Houston he's saddled with poor coaching that restricts his rise just as it has with Watson. Watson should be on an equal with those guys and he's not. The challenge is going to be getting our passive ownership to eventually realize this and either insist Pace move on from him or dump both and for the first time since GSH hired Jim Finks bring in the very best NFL GM money can buy and hire the best HC money can buy. They can well afford it and in the end now that we have Fields they can't afford not to. IMHO he's "the one". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dll2000 Posted August 18, 2021 Share Posted August 18, 2021 The good news is I think Nagy has surrounded himself with good coaches in many key positions - finally. That will help. I believe Juan Castillo is a good coach - you can't make chicken salad out of chicken poop but he has come pretty close. I suspect Bill Lazor is a good coach - I think he is really helping Fields in time allotted. I strongly suspect Sean Desai is a good coach. I think the anchor is Nagy. And I mean anchor as a drag not as a solid foundation. If this is going to be a 3 and out O we are going to over play our defense and injure them to mediocrity and poor play just like we did last year. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Romen Posted August 18, 2021 Share Posted August 18, 2021 43 minutes ago, dll2000 said: If this is going to be a 3 and out O we are going to over play our defense and injure them to mediocrity and poor play just like we did last year. It will be, until we get Santa's sleigh or run a wing T. Nagy can't help but go 3 and out. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulman Posted August 18, 2021 Author Share Posted August 18, 2021 1 hour ago, dll2000 said: The good news is I think Nagy has surrounded himself with good coaches in many key positions - finally. That will help. I believe Juan Castillo is a good coach - you can't make chicken salad out of chicken poop but he has come pretty close. I suspect Bill Lazor is a good coach - I think he is really helping Fields in time allotted. I strongly suspect Sean Desai is a good coach. I think the anchor is Nagy. And I mean anchor as a drag not as a solid foundation. If this is going to be a 3 and out O we are going to over play our defense and injure them to mediocrity and poor play just like we did last year. Keep Desai close. His defense loves him. He may be our next HC. Castillo has IMHO done a great job with what he's had to work with. Hiring him was a smart move. Lazor showed us something as a play caller last season then in a fit of ego Nagy took it all back again. DeFilippo is a good QB coach and Pitre is doing well with his RBs and Furrey with his WRs. The guy who keeps deceiving himself while trying to deceive us is Nagy. I just read yet another interview with him about his "plan" for Fields. The guy says more words that mean absolutely nothing than any other HC we've had. Fox and Lovie tended to say little, Nagy just blabs on about some "plan" and evaluating this and that and "the big picture" and it's all meaningless. All it took for most of us was one lousy preseason game playing with 3rd and 4th string guys for us to see what kind of upside Fields has. How is consigning him to only practice with 2nd - 4th string guys preparing him to "take over" as Nagy claims is his goal. If this is his plan then as usual it's just another of his poor ones. Nagy is too afraid of phuc'n up to be a good HC. JMHO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blkwdw13 Posted August 18, 2021 Share Posted August 18, 2021 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dll2000 Posted August 18, 2021 Share Posted August 18, 2021 1 hour ago, blkwdw13 said: By many accounts he spent yesterdays practice running for his life as defenders came straight through his O line unhindered. I know defenders aren't allowed to hit him, but still not sure how that was helpful and it increases chance of injury - which happened. So that is great. Hey more Dalton. We didn't want this to be a competition. Plan is and was to sit Fields for 2021 because Andy Reid did it with Mahomes. This helps with that. Yay!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Romen Posted August 18, 2021 Share Posted August 18, 2021 (edited) 2 hours ago, dll2000 said: By many accounts he spent yesterdays practice running for his life as defenders came straight through his O line unhindered. I know defenders aren't allowed to hit him, but still not sure how that was helpful and it increases chance of injury - which happened. So that is great. Hey more Dalton. We didn't want this to be a competition. Plan is and was to sit Fields for 2021 because Andy Reid did it with Mahomes. This helps with that. Yay!!! Virginia says Matt's a nice boy, so he stays! Edited August 18, 2021 by The_Romen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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