Bears' Injured Stack Piling Up

Valuable time to get the offensive line together on the same page is going by with

It's too early into training camp still to get worried but Bears coach Matt Eberflus sounded, well, somewhat worried.

A few injured Bears continue to miss practices and are apparently not seriously hurt.

Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, defensive end DeMarcus Walker, guard Nate Davis and linebacker Jack Sanborn continue to miss time and on Sunday at family fest in Soldier Field safety Jaquan Brisker, cornerback Kyler Gordon and linebacker Dylan Cole were added to the list of missing time on a day-to-day basis.

"There's nothing there that's long-term," Eberflus said. "But like we talked about the other day I think you asked the question about the continuity. That is a concern. When you miss practices you can’t get better."

This would especially be the case on the offensive line, where the Bears suffered last year through one injury after another and changed to nine different starting lineups. Continuity means more in the blocking scheme, although more of the Bears injuries right now are on defense.

Davis' injury seems more of a concern also because he's been away because he has been away since Tuesday, longer than the other injuries being watched.  

"When they're back they'll get in there," Eberflus said. "It's important to have that, when you have guys playing off each other and communicating to each other during the course of any play, offense or defense, that's an important part, too."

Deuce Is Wild

The connection of Justin Fields to DJ Moore went on full display for the small Soldier Field turnout who braved damp conditions and ridiculous traffic conditions downtown due to Lollapalooza going on at the same time. He gave a two-minute drive a chance at a touchdown with two well-timed throws, although they eventually failed to score. He also drew an end zone pass interference from Kindle Vildor during a red-zone scrimmage.

Moore put some of the credit back on quarterback Justin Fields' advancement with the offense.

"You just see it," Moore said. "He's making checks on his own. He's doing a lot of different things off script that they say he didn't do last year. I'm seeing positives from him."

The fact the connection continues to thrive doesn't surprise Moore as much as how fast the two built this.

"Yeah, it came on faster than I think we both though," Moore said. "But it's good to see a lot of trust went into it at first because we always used to ask questions back and forth. So now that we get live reps, it comes to fruition."

He credits the off-season work they did away from Halas Hall for part of the succeess

"OTAs, coming in early, even when we were off doing our own thing, we got together," Moore said. "So we just stayed on par with everything we were doing in OTAs."

Moore has even surprised Eberflus a bit with how fast he has risen above all the other receivers and showed up against Bears DBs.

"He's just quicker than I thought he was," Eberflus said. "He really captures space well and separation. Those are the things that I see out there.

"There was that first (scrimmage) third down—we got a penalty and backed it up, it was third-and-8 and that was a conversion because he was able to twirl around there, split two and get vertical and he made it by a couple yards. That elusiveness that he has.

"And then that catch (against Stevenson) at the end, the ability to stop, put his right foot in the ground, come back falling down and make the play, that's concentration and quickness and the ability that he has."

Picking It Up

Although it was one of the better offensive practices and should have been with so many defensive players missing, the defense did make a few plays. Jaylon Johnson picked off Fields in the end zone throwing for Chase Claypool at the end of practice and backup slot cornerback Josh Blackwell intercepted P.J. Walker on a throw in the middle of the field to Tyler Scott. Blackwell also had a sack blitzing out of the slot late in practice.

Special Guys

The Soldier Field venue was a good place to look at the kicking game and the return game extensively.

A new twist was cornerback Tyrique Stevenson as a punt returner. He made a fair catch on a high Trenton Gill punt and made fielding it look natural. Scott had a bobble on one punt return, the first he has had since he started practicing it.

"That was really good to get all those guys out there catching the punt in the stadium," Eberflus said. "I thought Gill hit the ball really well, which was good."

They also looked at the gunners on punts more closely.

Blackwell and Jaylon Jones were the first two gunnters to work, then Stevenson and Adrian Colbert. Cornerback Terell Smith and wide receiver Isaiah Ford were next, and it was a strange duo since both wear jersey No. 32, Smith in the white jersey for the defense and Ford in the navy for the offense. Last two gunners working were Scott and Nsimba Webster.

Eye-Catchers

Running back D'Onta Foreman was supposed to be a question as a receiver since he had rarely been used in the passing game. However, he made a one-handed catch along the sidelines for a 5-yard gain on a Walker pass and has looked in previous practices like he could handle this aspect of the attack. ... Backup center Doug Kramer suffered the kind of bad play no center wants -- he snapped one well over Walker's head during scrimmage. ... The practice had more penalties than other practices, possibly with players all amped up to be at the stadium before a crowd. Besides the pass interference against Vildor, there were delay-of-game, illegal shift and false start penalties. The shift wiped Roschon Johnson's best run.

To all the fans who showed out at Family Fest: 🫶 pic.twitter.com/xxdmLQL3zL

— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) August 7, 2023

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven