Bears Camp Notebook: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

I thought that today was a really good practice for the Bears. Both sides of the ball seemed to be pretty evenly matched with some nice plays coming from both offense and defense.

What started out as a dreary and rainy morning, transformed into a beautiful, sunny mid-70’s day in Bourbounnais. Perhaps it was the relatively cool weather, or maybe it is because it’s game week, but the team seemed to bring a little extra today. Overall, I was pleased with today’s practice but of course, there are some sore spots.

The Good

• Cameron Meredith had an excellent day today. He showed off his tremendous route-running abilities coupled with his big frame for several nice catches towards the sidelines.
• Jordan Howard had by far his best day of camp. Howard was one of several players that looked like they were ready for the season to start. He had several long runs, that were legitimate, coupled with a nice gain (20+ yards) on a screen pass with William Poehls leading the way.
• Jack linebackers Danny Trevathan and Nick Kwiatkoski both had nice days. It was good to see Trevathan on the field against the offense, and not just drills. He had tight coverage on Zach Miller and would have made a spectacular hit, had this been live. Kwiatkoski on the other hand did an excellent job in the run game and also in some short passes. His play recognition is really starting to show up.
• Jonathan Bullard was an animal today. He basically setup shop in the backfield and made himself at home. He was virtually unblockable in team drills and from what I could see of 1-on-1’s.
• The secondary grouping of Prince Amukamara, Marcus Cooper, Cre’Von LeBlanc, Quintin Demps and Eddie Jackson was really good today. I would not be surprised if that ended up being the starting unit come week 1. Amukamara and Cooper had some nice plays and got their hands on a few passes but the unit as a whole moved in concert together, which was something I have yet to see when others are out there.
• Last but not least, quarterbacks Mitchell Trubisky and Mike Glennon both had good days but for different reasons. Glennon ran the first team efficiently and made some really great throws from a clean pocket. Trubisky was a different story. He had pressure on him all day and did a masterful job of avoiding pressure and escaping the pocket to find receivers for positive gains. There was one play where he shimmied a defender (causing him to take out the backside pursuit) and would have scrambled for 25-30 yards or so. His athleticism is very impressive.

The Bad

• I really hate to keep bagging on Mark Sanchez but he had some of the worst throws I have ever seen today. On his second throw of team drills, he threw a pass between 2 receivers and wouldn’t have gotten to either of them. On the very next throw, he floated a ball straight to Marcus Cooper, who pick-sixed it.
• The running game was not good today outside of Jordan Howard. Tarik Cohen had one really nice run that he bounced outside for a nice gain but other than that, nada. I understand that without Long and Kush, that the depth at guard is a little thinner than it will be come the regular season, but it is slightly concerning.
• The first-team pass rush was lacking today. Sam Acho had a good day against the run, but without Willie Young (groin) and it appeared that Lamarr Houston was not participating in team drills, there was little coming off the edge. I would like to see someone step up from back-end of the roster in the event that Pernell McPhee isn’t healthy when the season starts.

The Ugly

• Can I mention those two throws that Sanchez made again?
• Eric Kush has a torn hamstring, which will require surgery and is out for the season. That is a big blow to the offensive line depth.
• Connor Shaw did not practice today as he is still dealing with an ailment.
• Jeremy Langford continued to be M.I.A. as he recovers from his sprained ankle.
• There was a Markus Wheaton sighting. He was in uniform but not pads. I would imagine that he will be coming back soon.

Extras

• Perhaps a precursor to the Kush news was the fact that Tom Compton was taking reps at right guard today.
• Another sign was the fact that at certain points, Hroniss Grasu was starting at Center and Cody Whitehair played some guard.
• The punt returners once again tried to see how many balls they could catch at once. We only got a chance to see Tarik Cohen and Eddie Jackson before the drill ended but both caught 4 but couldn’t find a way to catch a fifth without dropping another ball. It was nice to see these competitors having some fun at camp today.

What are your thoughts on what you have seen or heard from camp today? Anything surprising? Exciting? Disappointing?

Until next time, happy camping and Bear down!

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