Eddie Jackson's Phantom Pick

It might not have been the best play of Bears camp to date but had to be the most entertaining.

On Monday's final day before the team can wear pads, Eddie Jackson was involved in two hard-luck pass coverage attempts and the one on wide receiver Byron Pringle had the sidelines in an uproar.

Jackson flew in from deep safety with the Bears in zone coverage with Justin Fields' pass headed along the sidelines for wide receiverByron Pringle. Jackson didn't get the ball, and, of course, he couldn't get piece of Pringle. The former Kansas City receiver hauled in the pass and raced upfield to score while Jackson was squawking all along that it would have been an interception or he would have lit Pringle up. Players on offense and defense had alternate views and didn't mind expressing them loudly.

If it had been a padded practice like Tuesday's will be, the shoulder pads could have been the arbiter.

"He would have just had to do what he had to do. That's my boy," Pringle said about Jackson. "He said it was going to be a pick, then some people on the defense were talking about how I would have been in the hospital (in a live game).

"But I seen him (coming). I'm not going to blink my eyes. I'm going to keep smiling. He had to lay me out because I ain't going to get out."

Then it was pointed out to Pringle that if it would have been an interception in a game as Jackson had maintained, why wasn't it? There was no rule against Jackson intercepting a pass at practice without pads. Yet, he whiffed on the attempt

"If it was a pick, he would have picked it, correct?" Pringle said.

Jackson also got victimized when he actually didn't whiff a little earlier. He bolted in and broke a throw over the middle to Equanimeous St. Brown and the ball caromed high up into the air, a perfect opportunity for someone elseto make an easy interception.

Instead the ball landed in the arms of wide receiver Dazz Newsome and he raced untouchded for the TD.

It was nnt Jackson's day but the pads are coming on Tuesday and less will be left to the imagination.

"This is where we get to see what we are made of as a team, as a offense really," tight end Ryan Griffin said. "I know coach Flus is going to have the defense ready to go. I take personal responsibility in setting the tone offensively.

"It's always a fun day. It's a heated day. It's testy but it's fun. Hopefully, it's going to be nice and hot and we will see what we are made of."

It will be two days of pads and possibly some live hitting work in those, then they'll be off a day and future practices will alternate between padded and unpadded.

"What we expect out of that is really you get to see guys play the game," Eberflus said. "So far you've seen pass rushers rush against offensive tackles who have no pads on. You've seen the run-blocking with no pads on. It's hard to evaluate that."

It's hard to evaluate safeties who claim they would have had an interception or laid out a receiver, too.

"When you get the pads on now you can really see (that) guys will either rise or they'll fall a little bit based on the pads. I've seen in every year," Eberflus said. "So we're looking for that. We're looking for guys that can play with leverage, play with the pads on and the guys that are physical, because we cover the guys that are physical, that want play the style we want to play."

Eberflus sounded excited about the prospect of pads himself.

"It's an exciting time," he said. "Everybody in the league's doing it and everybody in ball's doing it. They put the pads on for the first time and it's still exciting, even veterans that have been doing it for 10 years, they're still excited about it. I'm still excited about it, all these years being in football. It's gonna be a big day for us tomorrow."

Injury Issues

Eberflus shed some light on the injury keeping cornerback Thomas Graham Jr. off the field. It's a hamstring injury that will take time for him to get past. The reason Eberflus said he was giving out the information is it is a longer-term injury.

Presumably, the injury keeping tackle Teven Jenkins off the field now is less significant because Eberflus wouldn't release that information. Likewise, defensive tackle Angelo Blackson remains off the field and no explanation has been given, so it must be less significant based on the coach's grounds for releasing information.

Practice Highlights

Lining Up: Pringle took kick returns as the first player back, while Velus Jones was the second one and Khalil Herbert third. All three are experienced kick returners. ... Cornerback Jaylon Johnson moved back to his right side spot and Kindle Vildor to the left side where both played last year, while rookie Kyler Gordon played the slot position. In the last practice, Johnson had been at left cornerback when Gordon was in the slot, with Vildor at right cornerback. ... Offensive line positions were jumbled greatly throughout practice, with veteran linemen Michael Schofield and Riley Reiff getting their longest looks yet with starters. For a brief time they had the all-veteran look of Reiff at left tackle, Cody Whitehair at left guard, Sam Mustipher at center, Schofield at right guard and Sam Borom at right tackle. It seemed like their safest look.

Flag Day: Both Al-Quadin Muhammad and Robert Quinn jumped offsides off the edge during practice. Also, Velus Jones Jr. was flagged for a false start during two-minute drill.

The Catch II: The catch talked about most aside from Pringle's against Jackson was big fullback Khari Blasingame going deep down the sideline and outjumping linebacker Noah Dawkins for a high pass from Fields.

"That's great, to be able to stretch the field with a fullback, when you get into '21'(personnel package) and you move him around and he's a viable option in the passing game, deep," Eberflus said. "Typically those guys will line up there and they'll turn around and stand there. Well, not him. He's got the whole (route) tree available to him. We're excited about all our backs being able to do that. That creates a lot of pressure for the defense for sure."

Run-Around: A non-padded pass-rushing drill included Trevis Gipson going right around Larry Borom on the outside almost untouched. It didn't suit coaches well and Borom received some instruction. They pitted the same two on the next play and Borom held his own.

Partially Beaten: Wideout Dante Pettis hauled in a short pass but after he took a couple steps nickel Tavon Young reached out and stripped the ball Peanut Tillman style.

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