Chase Claypool Intrigue in Week 2

Would the Bears actually bench Chase Claypool over blocking?

It seems unthinkable considering they brought him to Chicago for the first pick in Round 2 of the draft, No. 32 overall, to be a big-play target for Justin Fields. This is definitely something they have to think about, though, after Claypool struggled to throw effective blocks on the perimeter for screens or on running plays.

"We're looking at all possibilities right now," coach Matt Eberflus said. "I'm not going to talk about who’s going to be up or down for the game right now, for obvious reasons. We're looking at all things to make our team better—Who's going to be up and who's going to be down in terms of the active roster."

There's no doubt Claypool was down as far as blocking Sunday. A video circulated on social media showed him struggling and making weak blocks on the perimeter, including one on a wide receiver screen that led to Darnell Mooney taking a big hit.

Claypool declined to talk to reporters in the locker room on Wednesday. Eberflus has already addressed this situation on a personal basis with Claypool.

"Yeah, we already visited about that," Eberflus said. "I think it was maybe Sunday after the game or Monday, it was, but, yeah again you all saw the plays that, and again, the perimeter blocking needed to improve for all of us. And we're gonna get that, work hard to get that done."

Claypool had a strong training camp before an injury kept him away all three preseason games.

"I think the biggest thing is just having that same mentality as he did in camp and just keep working hard every day and just keep going," quarterback Justin Fields said. "Of course, he probably didn't have the game he wanted to have, probably wanted to have more catches. We all probably didn't have the game that we wanted to have. Just keep working, keep getting better, and I think that's the theme of this week. The theme of today is work towards 1-0 on Sunday. Just get ready to play."

Eberflus would like to see Claypool being technique-sound.

"I would just say everything comes down to technique," he said. "It's about technique and it's really about, when you're blocking the perimeter like that, you have to have good technique. He's displayed good technique in practice on that. That's why we had him in those positions. But perimeter blocking's all about technique.

"It's all about your angles. Your intensity, for sure. It's always about that. It doesn't matter if you're push-cracking on a linebacker or cracking down on somebody inside. That's what it’s always about."

One option if they decided Claypool couldn't do it is Equanimeous St. Brown. His blocking has been lauded in the past by coaches and teammates but the Bears kept him inactive Sunday, and also had Velus Jones Jr. inactive.

"He's a great run blocker for us," Fields said of St. Brown. "He always has been since last year and he knows the playbook like the back of his hand. He's really smart.

"I think he's a leader in the receiver room. So just that part—perimeter blocking, he's really good at that—I think that's probably one thing that we missed. I don't really make those calls, so not really a question for me."

All of that said, Fields says there's more to St. Brown than blocking.

"He's going to run the right route at the right depth and be at the right place at the right time," Fields said. "You just get dependability. He's very reliable in the passing game."

During Sunday's game, Claypool went into the injury tent along the sidelines.

"There was no injury reported," Eberflus said.

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