Bears OTA round-up: Victor Cruz and Kevin White speak to media, some veterans miss practice

With another open session of availability to reporters at Halas Hall, comes new speculation and thoughts on the Chicago Bears as they prepare for the 2017 season.

Since we last saw the Bears they added veteran wideout, Victor Cruz, to the roster with hopes of him recapturing his early superstar days with the New York Giants. There was also a kerfuffle over Kevin White missing practice given his own previous freak injury history. Both did speak to the media about their current situations with different perspectives.

Before we get to that, it’s important to note absent Bears from today’s (voluntary) practice. Each of Eddie Goldman, Akiem Hicks, Leonard Floyd, Zach Miller, Willie Young, and Danny Trevathan did not participate in Tuesday’s practice and weren’t even present.

With Trevathan, he’s obviously still recovering from his patellar tendon injury so that’s not a surprise. The glut of front seven contributors led by Floyd sticks out, but perhaps it was more of a maintenance and rest day. Either way, there don’t appear to be any new injuries or vague speculation this time around, as none of these players were questioned about in detail.

Now here’s Cruz speaking to gathered reporters in full after Tuesday’s practice.

Cruz maintained that he thinks has the “potential to be the guy he was a few years ago.” If the Bears can get that kind of production in 2017 and beyond, this offense will be much better off.

As mentioned, White also had some thoughts, and didn’t seem pleased, if at least a little agitated.

Questions of the third-year receiver being a bust evidently did not sit well as he just wants to prove himself now.

White clearly understands where he sits with the Bears organization and any consistency is welcome.

Rookie running back Tarik Cohen also appeared to impress, which would be huge for Chicago moving forward.

Meanwhile, Mike Glennon had a day to forget at practice.

Which probably best summed up the day in the Bears defense outperforming the offense. Not a jaw-dropping outcome.

And perhaps they were helped by the continued participation of Pernell McPhee and Lamarr Houston. McPhee in particular at a “sexier” weight.

From receivers with some question marks taking the stand, to the defense relatively coming together, the Bears still enjoyed a productive day of OTA’s. The time to prove themselves for some of these players will come soon enough. All you can ask for in May practices.

Robert Zeglinski is the Bears beat writer for the Rock River Times and is an editor for Windy City Gridiron. You can follow him on Twitter @RobertZeglinski.