Chicago Bears Training Camp Observations: Intensity increases on Day 3 of pads

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — After having a day off, the Bears returned to Halas Hall. The coaching staff wasted no time and put the players through an intense practice on a sunny and hot day in front of what appeared to be the most fans in attendance thus far in training camp.

Quote of the Day

Today’s quote goes to … Darnell Mooney.

Question: How tough was today’s practice??

Today was a day, for sure. Nah, it was a day. I was laid out in the locker room after today. Yeah, today was a day, for sure

Bears WR Darnell Mooney

Here are Nick’s observations in all three phases from the Chicago Bears’ eighth practice of 2022 training camp on Friday, August 5.

Offense

• Justin Fields attempted more downfield throws in today’s practice. He first connected with Velus Jones Jr. on the left side of the field. The ball hit Jones in stride as he was separating from the defender. Fields also hit Cole Kmet on a vertical route near the left hash marks. And on a free play, where the defense appeared to jump offside, Fields found a wide-open Equanimeous St. Brown along the right sideline and took advantage of the defense’s mistake. 

• Fields also did have some overthrows in the practice. Brown ran a double move on the right side of the field in 11-on-11s and ran his route towards the left. Fields looked like he put too much on the pass and missed Brown. He also tried to hit Tajae Sharpe in the middle of the field, but overthrew him, leading to an interception by A.J. Thomas. 

• Kmet and Fields were in-sync for a majority of the practice. On a third-and-7 in team drills, Fields threw the ball to Kmet on a screen pass. Kmet followed his blockers and lowered his shoulder into Jaylon Johnson to get the first down. Throughout the practice, the tight end also caught a few screen passes that were executed well with good blocking. After practice, Kmet, like Darnell Mooney, commented on its intensity.

Cole Kmet isn’t kidding, today’s practice was difficult. 🥵 pic.twitter.com/Y11t2AYm6a

— CHGO Bears (@CHGO_Bears) August 5, 2022

• Kmet wasn’t the only tight end who had a good day. Ryan Griffin continues to stack good practices. In a drill where there were two blockers, two defenders and a ball carrier, Griffin imposed his will on the safeties. First he took Dane Cruikshank out of a play. Then he erased DeAndre Houston-Carson from getting to the ball carrier.

• Byron Pringle caught a few passes throughout the practice. He started the day by running a nice out-breaking route against cornerback Jayson Stanley and Fields completed the pass near the left sideline.

• Trestan Ebner had a nice run during team drills. He showcased his elusiveness when running in the open field. Darrynton Evans also had two consecutive runs that went for positive gains with the second-team unit. 

Eb & flow 🤙@TrestanEbner | #BearsCamp pic.twitter.com/2S3Js9hIPi

— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) August 5, 2022

• The starting offensive line continues to have different combinations of guys throughout the practice. Here is what the group looked like during the first team drills: Braxton Jones (LT), Cody Whitehair (LG), Sam Mustipher (C), Michael Schofield (RG) and Riley Reiff (RT). Larry Borom also mixed in at right tackle, and Ja’Tyre Carter got some reps with the first-team at right guard. 

• Here are the offensive players who did not practice today: Teven Jenkins, James O’Shaughnessy and Dante Pettis. Tight end Chase Allen did return to practice today. 

Defense

• The Bears were missing cornerbacks Kyler Gordon and Duke Shelley for Friday’s practice. For the nickel spot, Tavon Young played nearly all the reps with the first-team unit and he excelled. In team drills, he tipped a pass from Justin Fields that was intended for Darnell Mooney. The ball went in the air and Eddie Jackson hit Mooney as he was trying to catch the tipped pass. A few plays earlier, Mooney tried to block Young, but Young put Mooney on the ground. And on 1-on-1s, Young got himself a PBU when he was defending a pass from Fields to Isaiah Coulter.

• Jaquan Brisker broke up a pass on a third down in team drills. Fields attempted to fit a ball into Kmet over the middle of the field, which was working throughout the practice, but Brisker knocked out the ball as Kmet was going to the ground. 

• The defensive line was without Robert Quinn and Khyiris Tonga for Friday’s practice. Angelo Blackson did return to practice after missing the last two. 

• Al-Quadin Muhammad got in the backfield during one of the reps in 11-on-11 and drew a holding call, which negated a touchdown run from Fields.

• It wasn’t just the offensive players who thought Friday’s practice was tough. Here is what Eddie Jackson had to say about it.

Uh, yeah you definitely felt it today and me and coach Alan (Williams) we were on the sideline, talking like a lot of guys, these type of practices, today’s, you can do two things: you can either tap out or stop and cry and complain or you can just step up. And when you get through stuff like that, that shows what good teams are made of

Bears S Eddie Jackson

Special Teams

• Not much to report on special teams today. But here is a look at the players who did get the first opportunity on kickoff: DeAndre Houston-Carson, Lamar Jackson, Matthew Adams, Khalil Herber, Caleb Johnson, Nsimba Webster, Dane Cruikshank, Khari Blasingame, Jaquan Brisker, Equanimeous St. Brown and Cairo Santos.

Quick Training Camp Takeaways

FRIDAY TRAINING CAMP TAKEAWAYS🏈

Catch up on #BearsCamp and the toughest practice so far with @NicholasMoreano.

Catch the full show here: https://t.co/7cOgpQuQDT pic.twitter.com/jloq6AFD51

— CHGO Bears (@CHGO_Bears) August 5, 2022