Bears Rookies Should Capture Attention

The pandemic brought the term "ramping up" to the NFL for training camps.

The practice routine put in place lets them ramp players up to a higher level of practice gradually by not allowing pads the first week after an offseason when there are no pads.

In actuality, there was ramping up going on for years in the NFL without calling it this because teams went without pads in the off-season and eventually worked into them at camp and then in preseason. They've just put more structure to the ramps.

Saturday at noon this ramping up reaches a new level for the Bears as they go from "thudding" the backs and their QBs being untouchable to the real thing—or as close to the real thing as preseason can allow. Hosting the Tennessee Titans in a noon game at Soldier Field provides real hitting, although the limited use of starters and extensive looks at backups makes it still a level below the season opener.

As such, the game provides a more real look at how players can perform when the season kicks off against Green Bay at 3:25 p.m. Sept. 10 with a home game.

Training camp and the off-season practices whetted the appetite to see certain player under more realistic conditions.

Here are five Bears to watch when they host the Titans, and the list for this first preseason game is heavy with draft picks because that's where the most curiousity lies until they've finally been in live conditions.

Naturally there is curiosity over Justin Fields in his second year, but the preseason opener won't give him enough playing time or work with a game plan for anyone to make any real judgment about where he's at—the daily work in training ca

1. Tyler Scott

The fourth-round rookie who talks like he's been in the league for a decade and practices like he's been in the Chicago offense for a few years will get his chance now to prove he can do all these things and take a hit. Scott comes in at 185 pounds and has bulked up a bit since his days with the Cincinnati Bearcats. It's a good thing because even slot and Z-receivers for this offense need to be able to block. Scott has never been one to shy away from contact, as a gunner in college and a running back in high school. Scott talks about how he loved watching film of Gale Sayers as a youth player when his father brought up the late Bears Hall of Famer. Now he says in practice he's trying to pick up "tidbits" from DJ Moore's game to emulate and one of those is something he was trying to do already. That's change speeds in route running to keep DBs off balance.

"The biggest thing I think with those is just really having them feel that extra burst, that gear to where they're in kind of catch-up mode so I can really snap it down," he said. "I think I've done a great job over the past couple weeks being able to do that and kind of use that burst of speed to give DBs just a little bit of different tempo because, like I said before, it's all about acting. If you can make things look the same and sometimes you may not be technically sprinting but if you can make it look like you're sprinting and then snap it off or change direction it makes it harder on the DB."

2. Gervon Dexter

Their 6-foot-6 rookie second-round pick from Florida has been impressing quarterbacks in scrimmage with his size, this much is certain. Dexter knocked down another pass in scrimmage on Thursday.

"I just said it today, that's a huge dude," backup QB P.J. Walker said. "Like huge. And for him to just go out there and push the pocket and get the batted down balls he's getting, he's a hard dude to throw around. And you can feel his presence in that middle of the field when you're back there playing quarterback."

The Bears know he can use that size because he has been proving it. Coach Matt Eberflus says he needs to see Dexter playing with a lower pad level so he can get off the line faster and make plays in the backfield against the run besides batting down footballs.

3. Darnell Wright

The first-round pick had not struggled with anything in camp until the Bears started working at the numerous cadences they use for the offense in the past few days. Then he was jumping the snap a few times and got penalized.

"He's a rookie," Eberflus said. "So he's gotta learn through it and he’ll be good."

Now Wright will get the chance to face live pass rushers he has never seen and the Bears will get a better gauge on his preparedness at a critical starting position. He and second-round cornerback Tyrique Stevenson are the only rookies currently practicing as a starter and in Stevenson's case the battle with rookie Terell Smith has stalled out a bit because of an injury to Smith.

With Wright, they would like their other immediate rookie starter to just continue being physical and showing off that great conditioning he got by doing the off-season work meant for wide receivers and not linemen.

The best thing about Wright so far is that until the penalties for false starts, you hardly knew he was out there. He played like a veteran blocker. If he gets Justin Fields sacked in the early part of the game Saturday and that could change.

4. Noah Sewell

The Bears might have seen Sewell on the field for more reps than any other player since May. Without strongside linebacker Jack Sanborn around for all the off-season and a big chunk of the practices to date, Sewell got time with starters. In some practices he took first-team reps at one linebacker position then slid to another and took second-team reps there while other players were resting on the sidelines. He's also been involved in special teams.

Like with second-year safety Elijah Hicks, he has a vital role as an inexperienced player who is the first backup. They need to know he can fill in at a few positions for linebackers. The Bears need to know he can handle this as a rookie fifth-round pick.

At first, there was talk from Eberflus about Sewell needing to know the position in the scheme better. As camp progressed, it's seemed to stop and there is expectation about his play.

Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy this week was asked about a player who had impressed him most as a disruptor from the other side. The first name he said was Sewell.

"I think there's been different days where guys have had instance," Getsy said. "Noah has had a couple days where he showed up, he stood out."

When asked early this week about Sewell again, Eberflus wasn't talking about missed assignments but about how Sanborn needs to be healthy now to compete for his spot. Sanborn was practicing on Wednesday and Thursday and likely will play against Tennessee, but Sewell will be pushing him.

"Yeah, as a rookie he's doing well," Eberflus said Sewell. "He's very strong, right? He's very instinctive. He's got good ball skills. And he's very instinctive. I just like the way he knows where the ball is. He can key read fast and I think it's a good competition. We're leaving it there and I know that Jack hasn't had a bunch of reps to be able to fully compete in there and I'm excited about when he gets back to be able to compete at that spot and we'll see where it goes."

5. Roschon Johnson

Frustrated by a minor injury that kept him out of practice a few days when the Bears first put on pads, and then again missing a few more days after he had returned, Johnson has been impressive the last couple practices in the passing game. He's had a few short-yardage plays in recent practices and seems to almost hunt out tacklers to be physical against.

Johnson was at the bottom of the backs' depth chart when it came out earlier this week, but third-down back Travis Homer had an injury and didn't practice Thursday. This could open the way for more playing time by Johnson in Saturday's game and he would no doubt love this chance in live conditions to impress coaches. Otherwise, if Homer is still hurt, it would seem they'd rely a lot on Trestan Ebner and Johnson for a majority of the running back plays in the preseason game.

"I thought when he came back, he did a really nice job of leaving that little blip of an injury behind and just playing fast," Getsy said of Johnson. "He really caught our eye a few times since he's been back. He's a smart kid. He's a tough kid. You (media) guys have seen him play with good pad level and knee drive and all that good stuff.

"We've just got to continue to get him to feel comfortable with everything that we're doing and if we can do that, I think he's someone that can help us."

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