Trevathan Gets Mic’d Up, the TE Battle, Floyd Growing, Cohen Hiding, and Other Bullets

Aug 17, 2018

Nothing like a mic’d up Danny Trevathan returning to his old stomping grounds to get your Friday started:

It was nice to see the Bears play well in a practice fake game against the Broncos. Tomorrow, it’ll be just a regular fake game!

Larry Mayer checks in with some positive reviews about the team’s tight ends, as Trey Burton, Adam Shaheen, Daniel Brown, and Ben Braunecker have all shown strong hands with impressive catches. Burton and Shaheen are locked in at their respective positions, but Brown and Braunecker (as well as Colin Thompson) are battling it out for what could be one of the last spots to be decided on the 53-man roster. One of the early takeaways from my visits to Bourbonnais was how important the tight end was to the Bears’ offense. There are so many mismatches that can be exploited by the players at the position, it’s possible tight end play could dictate how well the offense runs once games that matter get under way.

I’m still not 100 percent sure what to make of Dion Sims. There is no doubt that Sims has a certain skill set that could be helpful in this offense, it’s just that we’ve yet to see it all come together at the same time. Sims was listed as the No. 2 tight end on the team’s first depth chart, but he missed last week’s preseason game against the Bengals with a concussion. The Bears could save approximately $1.67 million against the cap if they part ways with Sims before the season starts, but could have saved $5.67 million had they done so before a March 17 3 p.m. deadline.

It’s worth pointing out that Trubisky posted a 93.8 passer rating when throwing to Sims, Shaheen, and Brown last season. Trubisky threw just one interception last season in the 57 attempts he threw at one of those three tight ends. Judging by the construction of the new-look receiving corps, it’s probably not a coincidence that the Bears went all-in on big-bodied targets for Trubisky to throw to moving forward.

The joint practices in Colorado produced some highlights:

Highlights aside, the Bears’ centers really need to get it together when it comes to getting snaps down:

Snaps continue to be something #Bears centers are struggling with. Saw it in training camp and now in joint practices.

— Zack Pearson (@Zack_Pearson) August 16, 2018

I’m just glad there wasn’t a Jets-Redskins kind of brawl out there. Nobody wanted/needed that:

Fight! Or, a couple brief skirmishes in a special teams gunner drill. Anthony Miller, Deiondre’ Hall involved on the Bears side. The coaches brought everyone together for I assume some kumbaya.
— Kevin Fishbain (@kfishbain) August 16, 2018

One player who has been lurking in the background during the Bears’ first two preseason games has been Tarik Cohen. Chicago has its versatile back hiding in plain sight after playing just one snap against the Bengals last week. Cohen tells Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times he believes the Bears are saving him. Maybe it’s protection from injury or scheming, but there is some gamesmanship going on either way. And yet, we’re not necessarily concerned about Cohen’s lack of preseason reps. Cohen rushed just 19 times last preseason and didn’t even get one target in the passing game. Things worked out pretty well for Cohen during his rookie season and you figure the best is still yet to come now that he is in an offense that will better utilize his skills.

On the other side of the ball, Leonard Floyd figures to be a driving force in what the Bears hope is a season that garners similar results to last year when the defense finished in the top 10 in scoring and yards allowed. JJ Stankevitz of NBC Sports Chicago explores why Floyd is the guy who can make everything go this season. Floyd already made his presence felt against the Bengals with a strong push that forced Andy Dalton into a bad throw that turned into a Kyle Fuller pick-six.

While we’re dreaming of Floyd growing into a stud pass-rusher in his third year as a pro, check this out from ESPN’s Matt Bowen:

#Bears–#Packers: CHI/Fangio played Cover 1 Robber in ‘17 to limit crossers/quick game on 3rd downs. Watch Amos (“Robber”) drop down & jump the WR crossing route. That allows the Slot CB to pass off the route & help on the TE. Leads to a Floyd sack. @NFLMatchup pic.twitter.com/mWZoDQ8X6m
— Matt Bowen (@MattBowen41) August 16, 2018

There’s money to be made if the Bears make an unlikely Super Bowl appearance:

The least likely Super Bowl 53 matchups according to @5Dimes:

BUF vs ARI +195000
NYJ vs ARI +195000
MIA vs ARI +195000
MIA vs CHI +165000
NYJ vs CHI +165000
BUF vs CHI +165000
CIN vs ARI +165000
BUF vs TB +150000
NYJ vs TB +150000
MIA vs TB +150000
CLE vs ARI +140000

— OddsShark (@OddsShark) August 16, 2018

Speaking of Super Bowls, I feel as if this image explains a lot:

People are always like "How come the Bears never won anything in the 70s with Walter Payton?" I'll tell you how. pic.twitter.com/GlEH7v9gW1
— Super 70s Sports (@Super70sSports) August 16, 2018

This tweet from ex-Bears wideout Cameron Meredith was a bit cryptic…

https://twitter.com/Cam_I_Am81/status/1029400185850552321

… but NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport tweets that it’s not related to his surgically-repaired ACL injury, so that’s good. Here’s hoping Meredith gets medical clearance to perform at his peak levels.

written by

Luis C. Medina

Luis C. Medina, who you can find on Twitter at lcm1986, has been covering the Chicago Bears at Bleacher Nation since 2017. Since then, he has written about 3 head coaches, 5 play-callers, and 11 starting quarterbacks. Previously, Luis wrote about the Cubs and MLB at BN (2015-16) and worked in the Chicago Tribune sports department (2011-16). He also co-hosted a Cubs postgame show, Outside the Ivy, in 2019.

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