The Bear’s Den, July 13, 2020

THE DAILY SPONGIE SPECIAL

Welcome to Bond Songs week here at the Den, where I share a few of the great tunes from James Bond movies...

BEAR DOWN, CHICAGO BEARS, BEAR DOWN!!!!

BEARRRSSSS

Wood: Advanced Defensive Stats - Coverage - Da Bears Blog - I’m continuing to look at Chicago’s defense using advanced defensive statistics from Pro Football Reference (PFR). I already looked at missed tackles, and today I want to look at coverage.

Bears Can Reap Nice Benefit by Salvaging Artie Burns - SI.com - Reclamation projections in the NFL rarely occur, at least not on the scale the Bears hope they achieve with cornerback Artie Burns.

Cody Whitehair Says He’s Geared Up for Starting Camp at Center - SI.com - New Chicago Bears offensive line coach Juan Castillo came about as close as possible to saying Cody Whitehair was the starting center when training camp begins.

Mystery Over Stephen Denmark’s Position Ends - SI.com - The great Bears mystery of the secondary has been solved.

Bears’ Cody Whitehair says he feels most comfortable at center - Bears Wire - Cody Whitehair, who started last season at left guard, essentially confirmed that he’ll be the Bears’ center heading into training camp.

Bears 2020 training camp preview: Wide Receivers - Bears Wire - The Chicago Bears wide receiving corps must be productive for the offense to succeed in 2020. Let’s take a look at each member.

Lack of Preseason Doesn’t Necessarily Hurt Trubisky - Da Bears Blog - While many think a lack of a game action prior to the regular season would benefit Nick Foles in the competition to be the starting quarterback of the 2020 Chicago Bears, Mitch Trubisky still has the inside track. As of last week, the preseason slate was cut down to two and it doesn’t seem that anybody actually expects either of those games to be played. That leaves the Bears with only practice settings to determine their QB and Trubisky shouldn’t be ruled out.

See rookie WR Darnell Mooney’s Madden 21 rating - Bears Wire - Madden 21 has started to release its position rankings for rookies, and rookie WR Darnell Mooney is the first Bears player to get a ranking.

9 Bears players coming back from injury ahead of training camp - Bears Wire - This offseason has given injured Bears players an opportunity to get healthy heading into a crucial 2020 season.

Eddy Piñeiro sees plenty of room to improve in second year as Bears’ kicker - ProFootballTalk - The kicking job in Chicago has not been a position of stability recently, but Eddy Piñeiro believes he’s going to improve upon his performance last year.

Buster Skrine Finds a Better Slot Fit in Bears Defense - SI.com - Safety Tashaun Gipson had to explain the Buster Skrine jersey he had on his wall at home earlier this year while he was doing a Zoom conference call with Chicago media.

Why Bears May Not Get Immediate Payback on Jaylon Johnson - SI.com - The selection of Utah’s Jaylon Johnson with the 50th pick meant the Bears addressed their hole at right cornerback.

Bears: Anthony Miller hits the practice field with Mitchell Trubisky - Bears Watch - WR Anthony Miller is the latest Bears skill position player to be working out with quarterback Mitchell Trubisky this offseason.

POLISH SAUSAGE

NFL referees plan to wear masks on the field - ProFootballTalk - NFL referees are expected to wear masks on the field during games this season.

NFLPA sends economic counterproposal to NFL ahead of Monday conference call - NFL.com - As the NFL's response to the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, the NFLPA has issued to the league an economic counterproposal, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported Saturday, per informed sources.

NFLPA wants to spread pandemic financial losses over 10 years - ProFootballTalk - Significant issues indeed remain between the NFL and NFL Players Association as management and labor struggle to resolve all issues that need to be resolved before pandemic football can be played. All are equally significant in this moment, but one carries universal significance: Money.

“OL Masterminds Summit” features few masks, no distancing - ProFootballTalk - As the NFL and the NFL Players Association haggle over every detail of football in a pandemic, one key question will be whether players can and will do everything they need to do — and not do everything they shouldn’t do — from August through December (or, in the case of 12 playoffs teams, into and possibly through January). There’s plenty of reason to think that this will be a bigger challenge than previously believed.

Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill tests positive for COVID-19 - NFL.com - Arizona Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill has tested positive for COVID-19, the team announced. The 55-year-old chairman is currently hospitalized...

Washington name change “imminent” - ProFootballTalk - The thorough review has moved rapidly.

SEC commissioner: “We are running out of time” - ProFootballTalk - The commissioner of the top conference in college football is sounding the alarm that if the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t brought under control soon, the season is in jeopardy.

NFL braces for a rash of positive COVID-19 tests when camp opens - ProFootballTalk - When players report for training camp, they’ll initially receive a COVID-19 test. The NFL is expecting a rash of positive results.

Training camp roster size continues to be unresolved - ProFootballTalk - Of the various agreements that the NFL and NFL Players Association need to reach before training camps can open, one relates to how many players will be present when training camps open.

Washington fires director of pro personnel, assistant director of pro personnel - ProFootballTalk - No reason was reported for the decision, and the team declined to comment on the situation.

KNOW THINE ENEMY

NFL vs. COVID-19: A Preview - Daily Norseman - Since the draft, there really hasn’t been much going on in terms of Vikings player news, development, or any news of position battles, scheme changes or adjustments, or really...

2019 Detroit Lions roster review: Can Jamal Agnew make a successful transition to WR? - Pride Of Detroit - Agnew’s roster spot may depend on a successful transition to offense.

WINDY CITY GRIDIRON MADDEN INVITATION

Do you want to do more officially sanctioned WCG Madden stuff? Or just enjoy the game?WCG now has an official Madden Discord server! Feel free to offer suggestions, updates, or anything to help the internet’s best Bears community have the best Madden community as well! Invite link is here.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT ON WINDY CITY GRIDIRON

Wiltfong: Bears’ fans, who is your favorite player from each NFC North rival? - Windy City Gridiron - It’s rivalry week at SB Nation, so let us know your all-time favorite player from the Bears’ division rivals!

THE RULES

Windy City Gridiron Community Guidelines - SBNation.com - We strive to make our communities open and inclusive to sports fans of all backgrounds. The following is not permitted in comments. No personal attacks, politics, gender based insults of any kind, racial insults, etc.

Windy City Gridiron Podcast Channel which includes Bear With Me from Robert Schmitz, Bears Over Beers featuring Jeff Berckes & EJ Snyder, Bears Banter hosted by Bill Zimmerman, and T Formation Conversation from Lester A. Wiltfong Jr.; EJ also co-hosts The Bootleg Football Podcast with Brett Kollmann; R. Schmitz has a film breakdown show on YouTube titled Run Pass Opinion; and Steven’s Streaming Twitch Channel from Steven Schweickert.

Click on our names to follow us on Twitter: Jeff Berckes; Patti Curl; Eric Christopher Duerrwaechter; Kev H; Sam Householder; Jacob Infante; Aaron Lemming; Ken Mitchell; Steven Schweickert; Jack Silverstein; EJ Snyder; Lester Wiltfong, Jr.; Whiskey Ranger; Robert Schmitz; Robert Zeglinski; Bill Zimmerman; Jack R Salo Like us on Facebook.