Hits and Misses of First Padded Bears Practice

It took a full week of practice but the Bears are starting to have injury concerns.

The only regular starter in the group is right guard Nate Davis. Lucas Patrick filled in for him at right guard on the first day players wearing pads. The other missing players due to injuries were running back Roschon Johnson and fullback Khari Blasingame.

"So it's going to be the same thing it was last year, so philosophy-wise with the organization," Bears coach Matt Eberflus said. "(We)'re not going to discuss injuries."

So, apparently it's not serious.

"If it turns something long term, we will disclose that but right now those guys are dealing with a variation of things," Eberflus said. "They're working with the training staff to get back as fast as possible."

Davis was out for two weeks of OTAs but no reason was disclosed. Last year Davis had an ankle injury and missed the final three weeks of the season with Tennessee, including the final two on injured reserve.

The Bears ran two series of goal-line plays in their first day with pads and undrafted rookie fullback Robert Burns got to fill in for Blasingame. With Johnson on, it meant more plays on offense for Travis Homer and Trestan Ebner.

In all, the first padded practice included only 48 reps but Eberflus said this was planned and the second padded practice on Wednesday could have twice as many plays in it.

Pick of Picks

During two-minute scrimmage, safety Jaquan Brisker finished off the second-team offense's attempt to drive on the first-team defense by coming out of deep zone to get to the sideline and take it out of the hands of wide receiver Daurice Fountain on P.J. Walker's pass.

Coach Matt Eberflus was thinking back to the one Brisker made at New England in the team's last win when asked about the pick in practice.

"It wasn't as good as the one in New England, but it was pretty good," Eberflus said. "But yeah, he's a talent, for sure. I thought he was good in his quarter there. He broke off the hash and did a nice job high-pointing the ball."

It ended the series with plenty of screaming and hooting from the defense.

"He's one of our guys that is definitely an elite competitor," Eberflus said about Brisker. "He loves to compete, he loves football.

"We love Jaquan's emotion, his passion, and with a guy like that that, his motor runs that hot where he has to harness it into a controlled situation where it works for him all the time. He's done a great job of that. We're excited to see him play this year."

Eddie Jackson also had a pick in practice of Justin Fields in goal-line work. His came off a deflected pass.

Hits and Misses

The full squad goal-line work started with two handoffs to 236-pound running back D'Onta Foreman and he showed why he's known as a power back. He scored easily on both. Khalil Herbert also scored on a run up the middle behind Teven Jenkins, Cody Whitehair and Lucas Patrick, then was hoisted up into the air in celebration by Jenkins. ... The worst play of the goal-line work was probably the final one. Homer got wide open on a bootleg pass from rookie QB Tyson Bagent and dropped the ball. The same two had hooked up earlier on a similar play for a TD. ... The defense set the tone early in the first set of goal-line plays when cornerback Kyler Gordon wasn't fooled by an end around and broke up a run by Chase Claypool. ... The one-on-one pass rusher vs. pass blocker was somewhat limited in scope but a few exchanges stood out. Seventh-round rookie Travis Bell made a brilliant move into the gap to get into the backfield, then on the next play guard Gabe Houy pan-caked him. First-round pick Darnell Wright totally stymied undrafted rookie defensive end Jalen Harris while defensive tackle Gervon Dexter had no problem getting past undrafted rookie Josh Lugg into the backfield.

Deep Thinking

The initial first-team offense drive in a two-minute drill against backups only went three plays without producing a first down. It was a simulated halftime two-minute drill. They were allowed to go back and start over again at the 30 and Justin Fields found rookie Tyler Scott deep down the middle against single coverage for a 47-yard gain.

"Tyler I'm super impressed with his maturity," Eberflus said. "And the way he's learning the offense and the way he takes the concepts. He learns at a fast rate, which really helps him, because he knows what to do and he knows how to do it and he can play fast.

"And that's what you're kind of seeing there. And he's on track to where he needs to be right now, for sure."

The drive ended with a touchdown. Fields bought time with his feet as if to come out of the pocket right, then hit DJ Moore coming across the field to the corner for the TD from 18 yards.

A Pre-Preseason Plan

It's never too early to think about preseason games, and Eberflus said he plans to get starter some playing time in the exhibitions. However, it sounded like it might be less than last season when he still didn't know the team he had. Now he knows them better so starters might not need to go as long.

"Yeah, so we've talked about that a little, have not finalized it right now, but we actually visited about that this morning," Eberflus said Tuesday. "It will be some play time, a little bit in there. But what that is right now, I'm not sure. We'll have to continue to discuss that."

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