Day: July 16, 2016

Kevin Fishbain at chicagofootball.com previews training camp by reviewing the situation along the offensive line.  Fishbain surprises me in this article by suggesting that the only major position battle is at left guard:

“The only clear competition for a starting job on offense is at left guard between former Cardinal Ted Larsen and second-round pick Cody Whitehair.”

Fishbain goes on to suggest that the Bears are totally counting on Hronis Grasu, who struggled at times last year, to man the center position.  But that’s not the way I see it.

Multiple reports indicate that Whitehair was snapping the ball at mini-camp last month on the side and that he will have a shot at the center position.  I think its much more likely that this comes down to three players, Larsen, Whitehair and Grasu, for two jobs, left guard and center, with everyone else on the outside looking in entering camp.  And it will be fascinating to see how it plays out.

Dan Wiederer at the Chicago Tribune reviews the top 10 headlines of the off-season as we head into training camp.  I was caught off guard by his approach to this one:

“Tribune headline: Dolphins hire [offensive coordinator Adam] Gase as coach — [head coach John] Fox has lots of coordinator options”

“What it means: Gase’s exit was hardly a stunner. He had interviewed for five head coaching jobs — including with the Bears — the previous offseason. So [general manager Ryan] Pace had been preparing to fill the coordinator role again. The Bears ultimately decided the in-house promotion of quarterbacks coach Dowell Loggains made the most sense.”

This may be picky but I thought, as the headline implies, that Fox had full authority to pick his coaching staff.  But the text itself seems to imply that Pace had the significant role in the affair.  This is the first I’ve seen that suggested.

True, Pace almost certainly had some input.  And ultimately I’m sure his office crossed the i’s and dotted the t’s on whatever changes to Logan’s contract were needed.  But I’d be surprised if Fox didn’t basically tell him what was going to happen and that wasn’t about it.