Bears
- I was glad to hear tight end Martellus Bennett say that he would have handled the episode that led to his suspension “differently”. And the team seems satisfied with what they see. But I would have felt better about his return had he publicly admitted he’d done something wrong. From Dan Wiederer at the Chicago Tribune
- Adam L. Jahns at the Chicago Sun-Times quotes cornerback Tim Jennings on trying to get his conditioning back after recovering from a bad quadriceps:
“That’s what camp’s about — execute even when you’re tired.”
- Linebackers coach Reggie Herring on Shea McClellin. Via Rich Campbell at the Chicago Tribune:
“‘The bottom line is he’s out here and he has had an excellent camp, a nice OTAs,’ Herring said Monday. ‘He moves as good as any of these other linebackers. He has made plays as good as any backer out here.”
That might be technically true. But if it is, it says more about the Bears other linebackers than it does about McClellin. More to the point was this quote:
“It’s a process. Y’all be patient. We’ll know after the first [or] second game where we’re at with him.”
The Bears are supposed to be starting linebackers who are ready to play now. If not now, then certainly by game 1. If you don’t have one, you go out and find one. Instead, in a camp that is supposed to be all about competition, McClellin has been given a starting job that he hasn’t yet earned, probably won’t have earned by the start of the season and may never earn. Kevin Fishbain at chicagofootball.com supports my point as he feels the need to mention this fun fact in his article today:
“It had been assumed in the winter and then leading up to camp that the two young, early draft picks would compete at the ‘Sam’ linebacker spot, and it’s still early yet, but the Bears have stuck with McClellin as the starting strong-side linebacker, and [Jon] Bostic as the starting nickel linebacker and second-team middle linebacker.”
Good organizations start the best guys based upon how they play, not their draft status. Apparently this isn’t one of them. Not a good sign for the long-term.
- Special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis on the possibility that Chris Williams might get an opportunity to return punts and kicks this Thursday. Via Wiederer:
“‘You’ve got to catch the ball in a real live game and catch punts in a real live situation,’ DeCamillis said. ‘So we’ll see those things going forward.'”
Something tells me that Williams is so far down the depth chart because he’s been dropping balls, not just as a returner, but as a wide receiver, as well.
Elsewhere
- The Dolphins worked out former Bears quarterback Rex Grossman yesterday. Via Josh Alper at profootbaltalk.com.
- Florida State inexplicably asked FSU fans to Tweet questions to quarterback Jameis Winston using the #AskJameis tag. Some of the more creative responses are worth reading. From Sean Newell at Deadspin.The incident is a lesson for those who want to be “edgy” and take advantage of trendy concepts like social media, but don’t really understand the fact that they have zero control over the very public results.
- Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune addresses about the annual debate about tackling in training camp. The Bears don’t have live contact practices.:
“Take a visit to Green Bay and you hear more shoulder pads crunching in the first 10 minutes than you do in most 2½-hour Bears practices.
“‘It’s actually rewarding to hear you say that because sometimes you get criticism from people,’ Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. ‘It’s like, have you ever been to another training camp? How does your line develop? How does the front end of your offense and defense develop if you don’t have those [live] drills? Those combinations, they don’t just show back up where the fits are right and the feet are together and the balance and the anticipation coming off.”
Ordinarily I would agree with McCarthy. But in fairness, I saw no obvious, systematic deficiencies in the tacking by the Bears in their first exhibition game.
One Final Thought
From Steve Rosenbloom at the Chicago Tribune:
“New NFL rule: Everything that football players do is a penalty.”