The Chicago Bears began the process of trimming the roster to 53 players by releasing 17 of them ahead of the NFL’s Tuesday deadline, while preparations began in earnest Monday for their Sept. 8 season opener against the Minnesota Vikings.
The team held the first of three practices this week at Halas Hall, and while coaches sort out who makes the final cut, they’ll also have to address some of the lingering questions raised by their uneven performance against the Kansas City Chiefs in Friday’s preseason finale.
No bones about it: The Chiefs’ first-stringers completely outclassed those of the disjointed Bears, masked by the final score of the Bears’ 29-27 comeback win.
Tight end Cole Kmet said head coach Ben Johnson appeared as frustrated in the film room Monday as he did at the postgame podium Friday.
“He was disappointed,” Kmet said, adding his own assessment that the Bears looked “sloppy.”
“Same that you guys got, that’s what we got, and then we split off and talked to our position coaches, going over the film room. But, yeah, definitely disappointed.”
1. Pre-snap procedure is under watch.
Offensive coordinator Declan Doyle didn’t sugarcoat: It’s high time the first unit gets past its timing issues.
Doyle lamented the Bears’ first several possessions, which included a fumble recovered by the offense, a sack, false start and delay of game penalties — all of which can be pinned on timing problems.
The Bears’ first series against the Chiefs was derailed by Caleb Williams’ fumbled exchange with Olamide Zaccheaus on an end-around.
Rookie tight end Colston Loveland’s false start penalty immediately followed, and the Bears faced a second-and-19.
“A couple series were not up to our standard of how we wanted to play,” Doyle said.
On the first-play fumble, “what happens is we end up snapping the ball a little bit late, we end up having to rush the ball handling a little bit and the ball ends up on the ground, which any time it’s on the ground, it’s unacceptable,” he said.
During the second series, Williams took too long in the pocket and took a 5-yard sack on second-and-3.
On the second play of the second half, with Tyson Bagent under center, the offense committed a delay of game infraction.
The Bears had two false-start penalties against the Chiefs and Dolphins, and one against the Bills.
Kmet couldn’t pin the delays — an area the coaches are intent on cleaning up this season — to one recurring issue.
“We’ve just got to be better,” he said. “If there was one thing I could peg it on, I would have told everybody in the locker room. We would have fixed it already.”
Doyle was confident that the offense will iron out at least some of the kinks by the time the Vikings roll into town for the Monday Night Football opener at Soldier Field.
“Our countdown clock is 14 days and we’re all kind of flipping our mentality towards that as a coaching staff,” he said. “We still have three good work days that we need to improve here as an offense and as a team, and so that’s kind of where we’re at as a team.”
2. Injury and participation report.
Two running backs participated in practice: D’Andre Swift and Brittain Brown — and there is no certainty that Brown will make the team.
Injuries have ravaged the group.
Roschon Johnson (foot), Travis Homer (calf) and Kyle Monangai (unknown) all missed the preseason finale in Kansas City as well as Monday’s practice.
“We’re depleted a little bit in that area as you can see, and so we’ve got to find ways to get our guys the ball,” Doyle said. “That doesn’t always have to be the running back, that can be a wideout, that can be a tight end, but we’ll continue to try to get … the ball in the hands of our playmakers.”
Beyond the running backs, also not practicing were wide receivers Devin Duvernay (unknown) and J.P. Richardson (right ankle), offensive linemen Doug Kramer Jr. (unknown), Josh Blackwell (unknown) and Bill Murray (unknown), defensive back Tysheem Johnson (unknown), linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga (shoulder) and defensive lineman Austin Booker (knee).
Quarterback Case Keenum (leg), defensive back Elijah Hicks (unknown) and defensive end Dominique Robinson (right ankle) participated in practice, but perhaps the Bears got the biggest lift from defensive back Kyler Gordon’s return to action.
“It’s good to have him back out there at practice. He’s one of the most athletic DBs I’ve ever played with,” safety Kevin Byard said of Gordon.
“He’s very versatile. He basically can play corner, nickel and safety. So I’m sure (defensive coordinator Dennis Allen) is going to have some stuff for him, he’s going to move him around a lot.”
3. The countdown to the final cutdown.
The Bears requested waivers for six players on Sunday and placed cornerback Terell Smith (patellar tendon) on season-ending injured reserve.
On Monday, they requested waivers for an additional 11, including quarterback Austin Reed, running back Ian Wheeler and defensive lineman Xavier Carlton.
They have to cut more players by Tuesday’s deadline.
It’s the point of the preseason that 10th-year safety Kevin Byard calls “a weird time.”
“I don’t really like to be in the building when it’s going on,” he said. “I don’t like to see the Reaper walking in the locker room and tapping guys on the shoulder, calling them or anything.
“You just don’t like to see somebody lose their job at all.”
Fellow defensive back Alex Cook was one of those roster casualties on Monday, and Byard caught him before he left the building.
“(I) just told him hopefully we can get you back here (on the practice squad) in a couple days. But if not, hoping and praying that you land on your feet and you find a team,” Byard said.
“Some guys, dreams will be over. I mean, not playing the league again. People work their whole entire lives to get to this point, and to be told they’re not good enough, it’s life changing.”
4. A dose of humility for the defense.
Patrick Mahomes and company made short work of the defensive first unit.
They barely laid a finger on him as the quarterback navigated the Chiefs to two touchdowns and a field goal in three series, then called it a night.
Mahomes finished 8-for-13 for 143 yards and a touchdown, and had an 18-yard scramble.
Byard intimated that the defense’s “ones” weren’t ready to play from snap one — at least not at the level the Chiefs displayed.
“It was a great lesson for us to learn this early,” he said. “Obviously, still the preseason … but we’re definitely not good enough to just roll out, just go out there and just play. We’ve got to go out there and play with a certain mentality and intensity, and it just wasn’t out there on Friday night.”
5. Jahdae Walker has made his case for himself — somewhere.
Jahdae Walker caught a game-winning, 6-yard touchdown pass from Tyson Bagent in the final minute on Friday.
The undrafted rookie receiver out of Texas A&M is hanging on the edge of the depth chart, but Doyle gushed about him on Monday.
“There are certain guys that walk outside for practice and it’s like a kid going to recess,” he said. “They can’t freaking wait to get rolling, and Jahdae is that way.
“Jahdae loves football. He showed up in that last drive and the play he made on our sideline was one of the better catches that I’ve seen. It was really pretty impressive. But he’s just a guy that has worked every day.”