NEWSLETTER
The Chicago Bears had a few high-profile breakdowns during their second-half collapse against the Green Bay Packers, so bringing in potential help for a workout makes sense:
The #Bears worked out former #Steelers S Mike Mitchell today, I’m told. Sounded like it went pretty well.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 10, 2018
NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport reports the Bears hosted free agent safety Mike Mitchell. And while it doesn’t sound like there is a deal in place at the moment, that Rapoport tweets that the workout went well seems telling. What might be more telling is that fellow safeties Kai Nacua and L.J. McCray also were in for a workout, per NFL reporter Howard Balzer.
If you’ll recall, the Bears are a bit short-handed at the position at the moment with DeAndre Houston-Carson nursing an arm injury. The Bears didn’t put Houston-Carson on injured reserve, which suggests he could return sooner than originally expected. HOWEVER, you could make a case that bringing in three safeties for workouts with the team would paint a different picture of the situation.
Mitchell turned 31 in June and has nine years of NFL experience under his belt, the last four of which came with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Ohio University product started 60 of the 61 games he appeared in over the last four years in Pittsburgh and played on 69.2 percent of the team’s total defensive snaps in 2017. It’s worth noting Mitchell played on 80 percent of Pittsburgh’s defensive snaps in 10 of the 13 games he played last year, but he probably wouldn’t be getting a huge chunk of playing time unless something were to happen to Eddie Jackson or Adrian Amos.
Because the Bears don’t return to the playing surface until next Monday, there is an extra day for rest, preparation, and browsing through the list of free agents who could possibly lend a helping hand in a pinch.
