Proving Ground for the Bears

The Bears will complete a three-day mandatory minicamp this week and then will come six weeks any coaching staff dreads.

Given their own devices, there are any number of sports cars to drive wildly or similar unproductive forms of behavior available for the amusement of those with the cash like players make.

Assuming the Bears are able to meet their late July reporting date unscathed for the start of training camp, there will be plenty to prove for everyone.

If you believe the media, national and otherwise, this team can't walk and chew gum at the same time right now.

That's one thing to prove.

There will be even more to prove in the regular season.

GM Ryan Poles has already done the majority of his work until next offseason. He was first up on the firing line.

If nothing else, Poles has shown he is unafraid to identify a problem and take action to solve it.

Whether he has actually taken the easiest or most effective way to solve a problem is the issue, but little can be done at this point to reverse what he set in motion.

Poles decided an entirely toxic situation needed cleansing and the only way to do this was to burn it all down. He cleared out the cap space for 2023 because it was impossible to do much more with the little amount of cap and high amount of debt against the future left for the franchise by his predecessor.

Poles decided it was the fastest way to restore the franchise. Anything less would have prolonged the agony, made it more difficult to actually accomplish his long-term task of helping the team "win the North and not give it back."

Certainly they could have kept a few players they let leave or traded away but for each expensive one they got rid of or failed to sign in free agency, they made it easier to get done all at once what needs to be done in the near future to build a perennial winner like he just came from in Kansas City. The Bears have had enough of winning division titles one year only to be mediocre or worse the next three.

Poles has also proven he can make mistakes. The Larry Ogunjobi failed physical was on the player, true, but as former GM Jerry Angelo always said, the first thing anyone in his job needs to do is their due diligence. If Poles did this, Ogunjobi wouldn't have even been offered a contract.

This left the Bears in an immediate hole to start free agency and their solution was signing a player who definitely lacks the credentials of Ogunjobi or countless other NFL interior defensive linemen. At least they signed Justin Jones to a two-year deal, and the short-term deals for him and all free agents have been Poles' way of keeping the cap free of future clutter while hedging his bets. It shows he knows how to play it safe.

There is much more coming for others to prove when training camp begins. Here's who and w.

7. Darnell Mooney. It's obvious no one on the receiving corps has ever put up bigger numbers besides Mooney, and he has done it over the first two years of a career better than any wide receiver the Bears ever drafted. Only two receivers from his draft class have more catches at this point in their career: CeeDee Lamb and Justin Jefferson. So suddenly Mooney must perform as the No. 1 receiver. Last year they still had Allen Robinson, even if he played—to borrow a phrase from the late, great Howard Cosell—like a shell of his former self. Robinson's presence for 12 games as an injured or disinterested receiver at least removed some pressure from Mooney at times. Who does this now? Bryon Pringle and his 67 career receptions, all accomplished with the benefit of the game's best current passer? Mooney was a No. 1 1/2 receiver last year. He'll need to prove yet he can move up to earn No. 1 status.

6. Eddie Jackson. A safety who is paid to make the big plays needs to prove he can make the big plays week-in and week-out. Jackson stopped making them at the end of 2019 and in the last two years had passer ratings against of 110.1 and 143.6 while allowing eight touchdown passes, according to NFL stat partner Sportradar. But Jackson is being paid like one of the best NFL players at his position. Now he has a defensive scheme which simplifies coverage and makes it possible for safeties to intercept passes, and the coaching staff says they believe in him. There were 16 interceptions made by Colts safeties in four seasons with Eberflus' defense. They weren't players being paid a $58.4 million deal. It's going to require plenty of big plays for Jackson to justify this faith coaches have in him.

5. Alan Williams. He already has been defensive coordinator for a failed defense in Minnesota. Will it be different this time? Williams seems like the kind mature, polished individual who can respond well to pressure situations. He's being given the responsibility of calling the defenses and running things even if this is coach Matt Eberflus' are of expertise. At first sign of failure, there will be plenty of people calling for Eberflus to take over the defense. So Williams will need to prove from Day 1 it's his defense and he can run it right, even if it is a scheme and approach borrowed from his boss.

4. Andrew Janocko. Dowell Loggains was going to develop Mitchell Trubisky, and so was Dave Ragone. John DeFilippo was also going to develop Trubisky and the Justin Fields. The Bears have been all about quarterback coaches working closely to develop quarterbacks who never develop. There is no real reason to think Janocko can take a second-year quarterback and transform him into a success based on what he did in Minnesota, because Kirk Cousins was as good as he'll ever get upon arrival in Minnesota via free agency. He's working at Fields' footwork, throwing motion and they're giving him almost all the snaps in OTAs. That's a good start.

3. Justin Fields. All Fields needs to do is please his coaches. If the Bears are losing—and there is every reason to believe they will because of the lack of top talent for this year at key positions—Fields merely needs to keep making progress on his end. He needs to make it apparent the losing is due to matters outside his control. This is not done by whining about the situation, and to his credit Fields has said in recent interviews he has quality teammates, particularly at wide receiver. If they're losing and Fields' play is good enough to at least make them competitive, there will be no question about whether the coaching staff and front office believe enough in him to look at other positions first in free agency and next year's draft. Make stupid mistakes, ignore game plans, fail to understand defenses he faces each week, let basic fundamentals slide and try to do everything himself, then all bets will be off even if the surrounding talent lacks polish. Fields just needs to lead, learn, play and have confidence the coaches and Poles will be able to tell when poor offensive results come from lack of talent at other positions Because if he doesn't do those things, then regardless of the team's wins and losses Fields will give them every reason to doubt his ability to be their quarterback.

2. Luke Getsy. The savior of the franchise is supposed to be Fields. Someone needs to put the savior in position to do his job. It's Getsy, who was a Packers quarterbacks coach, it's true. But he only did that for three years and has never actually been in charge of developing a successful NFL quarterback, just like he hasn't called plays in NFL games. Aaron Rodgers knew what to do long before Getsy became QB coach. Getsy did call some plays under Matt LaFleur in preseason, which is like saying you once tried on a pair of football cleats but never actually went on a field in a game for a team at any level and played the sport. No one knows if Getsy can call plays against NFL defenses. He did it one year in college when it did count, so there is reason to believe he could. Aaron Rodgers and current Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett raved about his coaching, so there is hope he knows what a quarterback needs to do to develop. It's easy to see there is more for Getsy to prove at Halas Hall than all but one other person.

1. Matt Eberflus. He's never been head coach at any level and is only four years removed from being a position coach. Eberflus was a very successful defensive coordinator with a scheme that did exactly what he said it would. However, now he has to coach a full team and oversee both sides of the ball. And in his first stretch of organized team activities he managed to get the team suspended. It was only one day and they chalked it up to overexuberance of young players, but there have been no penalties for teams coached by Hackett, Kevin O'Connell, Mike McDaniel or Brian Daboll and they're also in their first years as head coaches. They have plenty of young players. The Bears had to learn to practice against the Bears, Eberflus said. The Broncos had to learn to practice against the Broncos, the Vikings against the Vikings and so on and so forth. But none allowed players to get too close to excessive physical contact so that they crossed the line for a suspension. No matter how minor it seems now, is this an indication of a lack of control for the future or a blip on the radar? No one can know with a first-year coach. Can Eberflus rally a team and keep them out of the doldrums, can he make all the numerous decisions and wear all the hats a head coach needs to wear to succeed in the NFL? It's a great deal to prove—more than anyone at Halas Hall, at least until next spring when everyone is watching Poles and how he spends an ungodly amount of cash under a limitless cap.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Schedule