Indianapolis Trip Can Test Bears More

The Bears showed a lot of fight in the preseason opener.

The question is whether they can keep the fire limited to their play this week when they go to Indianapolis for two practices and then a Saturday preseason game with the Indianapolis Colts.

"Just practicing against someone else, so definitely excited for that," Bears quarterback Justin Fields said.

When teams practice with each other there's always the potential for something happening after the whistle. The Bears have already had their own problems in this area earlier in camp between Eddie Jackson and Chase Claypool.

If they can keep the physical play legal, it's possible Fields could get more from the practices than he did Saturday's preseason win.

"Just using the practice because we'll probably do more stuff than in a preseason game," he said. "So, excited to see those different looks and know they're probably going to make it challenging on our offense. It'll be good for the guys. Definitely going to get ready for that."

Fields only got to throw three passes Saturday and none were downfield. The 62-yard TD pass to DJ Moore and 56-yard TD pass to Khalil Herbert were screens behind the line and the 11-yard completion to fullback Khari Blasingame was a swing pass.

So what's to be made of that effort? Last year they beat the eventual world champion Kansas City Chiefs in the first preseason game and Fields threw only seven passes. They went in at halftime trailing and had to rally with reserves playing, like Saturday against the Colts.

So, in the end the win means about as much as coach Matt Eberflus' 4-0 record in preseason games, which is to say nothing.

Eberflus will be going back to the place he used to call home this week and that trip can mean more to him.

"I just think it's great," Eberflus said. "I have been involved in a lot of these and I think it's really cool because you get to cover and go against different skill sets.

"We've been going against the same guys, DJ has been lining up against Jalen (Johnson) and he has been lining up against (Tyrique) Stevenson and all of those. Now we get to line up (defensively) against (Michael) Pittman (Jr.) and those guys, so it's pretty cool. Those are some pretty good players, and same thing with our offense going against the defense. There are some prety good players over there and so it's going to be an exciting week."

The Colts have a new coaching staff, so much has changed since Eberflus left. However, some players remain. Linebacker Shaq Leonard, defensive tackle DeForest Buckner and slot cornerback Kenny Moore II are former Eberflus players.

The Bears practiced at home two years ago during Matt Nagy's final year as coach against Miami for two days prior to their game at Soldier Field. It was fairly uneventful. That's when Fields had his experience practicing against another team.

They practiced in Denver when John Fox was head coach and also against New England.

The New England practices were when they wound up with trouble, as a fight broke out involving Alshon Jeffery and Malcolm Butler.

Malcolm Butler got ejected from practice by Belichick for fighting. Jeffery just goes to the sideline
— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) August 15, 2016

They'll go down to Colts camp just north of Indianapolis for two 6 p.m. practices with possible injury issues. Claypool, DeMarcus Walker, Tremaine Edmunds, Nate Davis and Jaquan Brisker remain injury questions after all missed Saturday's game.

"All of those guys that we talked about that are day-by-day right now, so we are really focusing on those guys, honing in all those guys, so to speak, to see when they are going to get back," Eberflus said. "We are hopeful for that, but we will see where it goes."

A look at the fracas. Nearly became a full-on brawl. pic.twitter.com/G7IXbiVdM4
— Zack Cox (@zm_cox) August 15, 2016

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