Job Battles Featured Against Titans

Analysis: Five Chicago Bears who have the most at stake in the preseason opener Saturday against Tennesee including several with employment on the line.

Justin Fields does not need to have an excellent preseason game Saturday against the Tennessee Titans, or even avoid a poor showing.

Of course, coaches would prefer he display in a game setting the great progress they say they've seen from him throughout training camp and the off-season practices.

Besides, his playing time is unlikely to amount to much more than a few series.

A poor game by Fields would only be something to incite more doubters into claiming he's a bust but would do nothing to affect his actual performance or foture as starting quarterback.

On the other hand, there are Bears in Saturday's preseason opener who stand to gain the most or have the most at stake, and could really use a good showing. Some of these players could even get chances to make plays in situations created specifically for them by coaches.

"We're trying to do as good of a job as we can evaluating the guys that we have on the roster," offensive coordinator Luke Getsy said. "So you're going to do some different things."

A specific example of that might be passing with the first-team offense with Khalil Herbert and/or D'Onta Foreman on the field because there are still going to be questions about the pass blocking of both players. Herbert, in particular, would probably need this skill because he has inherited their all-purpose starter role from David Montgomery.

"I would say that he has made improvements," coach Matt Eberflus said. "He's made improvements in the protection, made improvements in the passing game, the route tree is expanding for him, I feel the trust happening with the quarterbacks, especially with Justin, and it's starting to grow. I think it's been growing over the last three or four weeks."

Again with Herbert, just like with Fields, there might be specific aspects of their game coaches want to look at, but his overall future as starter is unlikely to be affected.

Here are Bears who have the most to gain or really need to have a strong first preseason game.

1. DE Trevis Gipson

A player who led the defensive line in sacks last year and was ranked by ESPN as sixth-best edge in run-stop win rate last year, has essentially been demoted in training camp. The signing of Yannick Ngakoue naturally led to Gipson moving down a peg but the depth chart this week had Gipson below not only Ngakoue and Rasheem Green, but also Dominique Robinson and Terrell Lewis, a player the Bears signed off the waiver wire scrap heap to their practice squad last December after the Rams waived him. Gipson, meanwhile, is a fifth-round pick made by former Bears GM Ryan Pace at the expense of costing him a fourth-rounder for the next season. He had a seven-sack 2021 season, then stepped back last year as a full-time starter but in a new defensive system. So if he's suddenly behind Robinson, who went 16 weeks without a sack last year, and the former Ram Lewis, Gipson is badly in need of stepping up with a big game against the Titans.

2. Jack Sanborn

Sanborn could be battling for his starting spot and not really a roster position. He missed all off-season work and then has been available only a small portion of training camp practices after his 2022 season-ending ankle injury. In the meantime, coach Matt Eberflus seemed to keep open the starting strongside position for him while rookie Noah Sewell filled it in practice. But the Bears haven't seen bad play from Sewell, the fifth-round draft pick. It's time for undrafted Sanborn to step in right away and show it's still his position. His return to practice with starters on Thursday was a step in the right direction. Now he must sustain it.

3. G Alex Leatherwood

When Teven Jenkins was out of the lineup with an injury, Leatherwood got practice time at left guard with starters. When Jenkins returned but right guard Nate Davis was still out and backup center/guard Lucas Patrick was out with an injury, it wasn't Leatherwood playing right guard. Instead, it was second-year player Ja'Tyre Carter. Since arriving off waivers last year, Leatherwood has had some limited opportunities to show off his skills but hasn't really seized the moment. Any chance Leatherwood gets to prove himself has to be one he capitalizes on at this point because it would appear the Bears are examining other options for line depth purposes. They may not be players even on the roster, as players get cut in a few weeks and there could be the next player become available just before the regular season the same way Leatherwood did last year.

4. QB Tyson Bagent

Bagent got snaps in practice Thursday and third quarterback Nate Peterman took none. This could be an indication they're going to play Bagent in the later portion of Saturday's game. It could also mean they let Bagent have practice snaps because they want to give Peterman the game snaps this week but they really don't need to look at Peterman in a game because he has been in the offense a year and started once last year. So they know what they have in him. Bagent is the great unknown as a possible developmental type from NCAA Division II.

Not much has been said about Bagent by coaches at training camp but earlier after rookie camp QB coach Andrew Janocko said he and the staff loved how Bagent came out to be coached rather than to impress anyone with his arm.

"He took to coaching right away," Janocko said. "He's never been around our footwork (for QBs in the passing game), so coming out here right away he just dove off the diving board for us, which was fun. It's easy to come out here say, 'OK, first day I'm just going to go out and revert back to what I've had success with and get a couple completions in a camp like this. But if you're looking to make a team, you're looking to strive and a complete buy-in and that was fun to see because (then) there were some throws he missed and a lot of that was just trusting that we're going to make those throws. And then I think those throws that he missed (then), I think he made every one (the next day), so that was a lot of fun to see."

The game is big for Bagent because it's possible he might not get more preseason playing time or just a small portion in Week 3.

5. CB Kindle Vildor

Largely relegated to third-team work, it's still not too late for him to prove he can contribute despite the fact he obviously has lost a starting spot. He was the left cornerback starter last year but since roughly the first week of off-season practice rookies Tyrique Stevenson and Terell Smith have moved ahead of him and second-year undrafted cornerback Jaylon Jones also has had more time competing with players higher on the roster. Vildor is a smaller cornerback at 5-foot-11, 189 pounds but he has faced players like Davante Adams and Justin Jefferson so if he merely made a stand in preseason games it's possible he could retain a roster spot.

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