The Bear’s Den, September 9, 2021

THE DAILY SPONGIE SPECIAL

BEARRRSSSS

Will the Chicago Bears Push Through Any Contract Extensions This Week? - Bleacher Nation - Let’s explore some possibilities...

2021’s Ten Most Important Bears (Other Than Justin Fields) - Da Bears Blog - Here are the ten most important Bears of 2021, other than Fields

Facing pressure to perform, Andy Dalton ready to lead Bears - 670 The Score - Veteran Andy Dalton is in an uncomfortable position as starting quarterback for the Bears, but he’s ready to lead the team forward amid immediate pressure to perform.

Best NFL Week 1 rookie debuts since 2000 - 670 The Score - Robert Griffin III, Kareem Hunt, Anquan Boldin, T.J. Watt, Adrian Peterson and Matt Forte were among those who were incredible in their NFL debuts.

Bears nose tackle Eddie Goldman battling knee/ankle injury - 670 The Score - Chicago Bears nose tackle Eddie Goldman missed practice Wednesday afternoon at Halas Hall with a knee/ankle injury, while several other key players were limited participants.

Bears hope improved speed opens up big-play opportunities - 670 The Score - The Bears revamped their wide receiver corps this offseason and now boast one of the fastest groups in the NFL. Their hope is that will open up more big-play opportunities after they lacked explosiveness in 2020.

Sean Desai: Meet the new Chicago Bears defensive coordinator - Chicago Tribune - For Chicago Bears defenders who experienced the rush of 2018 under Vic Fangio, it's no small deal that a similar vibe is emerging under new coordinator Sean Desai. “Sean sees the game at an advanced level. With each situation, he knows he has a call to match.”

Bears 2021 roundtable: When will Justin Fields start, season record predictions, X-factors and more – The Athletic - The Athletic Bears writers predict the team's 2021 season record, when Justin Fields will start, who the biggest X-factors are and more.

Ten bold (and not so bold) predictions for the Bears' 2021 season – The Athletic - From when rookie QB Justin Fields will start to who leads the team in picks, Adam Jahns lays out his annual bold predictions for the Bears.

Meet the Los Angeles Rams (with Jake Ellenbogen of The Downtown Rams Podcast) - The Chicago Audible - Kick off the first Chicago Bears Game Week of 2021 and learn more about the LA Rams in this episode with Jake Ellenbogen of the Downtown Rams Podcast.

What’s going on with Bears NT Eddie Goldman? - Bears Wire - Chicago Bears defensive lineman Eddie Goldman could miss Week 1 with an undisclosed injury.

Chicago Bears: 5 bold predictions for the 2021 NFL season - Bears Wire - From Andy Dalton's hot start to Eddie Jackson's bounce-back year, here are our bold predictions for the Bears' 2021 season.

Bears: Which weeks Justin Fields could make starting debut - Bears Wire - Here are some potential spots for Justin Fields to make his debut as Bears' starting quarterback this season.

Bears' Andy Dalton: Looking over shoulder at Justin Fields worst thing to do - RSN - Chicago Bears quarterback Andy Dalton said looking over his shoulder at rookie Justin Fields is the worst thing he can do.

Eddie Goldman, Khalil Mack, Robert Quinn, and Darnell Mooney Appear on the Bears' First Injury Report of 2021 - Bleacher Nation - A handful of familiar faces showed up on the first injury report of the Chicago Bears' 2021 season.

Andy Dalton Continues to Say All The Right Things (Even with His Replacement Waiting in the Wings) - Bleacher Nation - Andy Dalton seems to be wise beyond his years.

Eddie Goldman misses practice, while Khalil Mack is limited - ProFootballTalk - The Bears signed veteran defensive tackle Margus Hunt and nose tackle Damion Square to the practice squad Wednesday, a sign that Eddie Goldman‘s injuries are a concern for Sunday. The team lists Goldman with knee and ankle injuries that kept him sidelined during Wednesday’s practice.

On your marks, get set ... get open - Chicago Sun-Times - The signing of Breshad Perriman gives Matt Nagy and the Bears a relay team of sub-4.4 40 speedsters at wide receiver — with Darnell Mooney, Marquise Goodwin and Damiere Byrd. Now they have to find a way to turn that speed into a weapon.

Bears defensive coordinator Sean Desai ready to battle Rams coach Sean McVay - Chicago Sun-Times - The Bears’ first-year defensive coordinator appears well-armed for the battle of wits against Sean McVay and the Rams in his first test as a play-caller. “I think that’s a strength of mine,” he said.

Bears NT Eddie Goldman misses practice with injury - Chicago Sun-Times - Goldman appeared in the Bears’ final preseason game, playing in the first quarter, after sitting out the first two.

Andy Dalton: ‘Worst thing you can do is look over your shoulder’ - Chicago Sun-Times - Bears coaches — and fans — will judge his performance Sunday at SoFi Stadium against what’s behind door No. 2. That’s Justin Fields.

Bears 2021: What’s more likely — everything going right or going wrong? - Chicago Sun-Times - Given the choice of extremes in a season of unknowns, how would you vote?

Eddie Goldman: Will Chicago Bears NT play in opener? - Chicago Tribune - After opting out of the 2020 season and missing a chunk of training camp because of a positive COVID-19 test, the last thing Eddie Goldman needed was a setback. Now a knee/ankle issue has him out of practice.

POLISH SAUSAGE

Zach Wilson: Facing Sam Darnold "definitely not something I think about" - ProFootballTalk - The Jets will be in Carolina to face the Panthers in the first regular season game of quarterback Zach Wilson‘s career, which means they won’t have to look far to see a reminder that things may not go as planned for the second overall pick in the draft.

KNOW THINE ENEMY

Mike Zimmer: Vikings are “top-heavy with finances,” depth is a concern - ProFootballTalk - At a time of year when some NFL head coaches are outwardly optimistic about the upcoming season, Vikings coach Mike Zimmer admitted some concern today.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT ON WINDY CITY GRIDIRON

Wiltfong: Bears Injury Report - Eddie Goldman misses practice, 2 DL added to the practice squad - Windy City Gridiron - There was a buzz circulating this morning at Halas Hall that nose tackle Eddie Goldman was dealing with an injury, and the first injury report from the Chicago Bears has confirmed that. Goldman was...

Infante & Duerrwaechter's Bears 2021 college prospect preview: Non-Power 5 - Windy City Gridiron - In the sixth and final part of our annual college football prospect preview series, we take a look at some of the top players outside of the Power 5.

Leming's Chicago Bears mailbag: Dalton’s leash, Pace and Nagy’s job security - Windy City Gridiron - Week 1 has arrived but that hasn’t stopped the questions about Chicago’s immediate future.

Berckes' Visualize this: Walter Payton Career Statistics - Windy City Gridiron - To kick off our season series on data visualization, we start with the GOAT.

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, Rule of 3 with R. Schmitz, Danny Meehan, and Brandon Robinson, and the occasional 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; Will Robinson II has his WhiskeyRanger YouTube channel, 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; Jack R Salo; Steven Schweickert; Jack Silverstein; EJ Snyder; Lester Wiltfong, Jr.; Whiskey Ranger; Robert Schmitz; Robert Zeglinski; Bill Zimmerman; Like us on Facebook.