Khalil Mack, Cordarrelle Patterson, and Eddie Jackson have provided silver linings in a season that has had more cloudy days than sun-splashed ones.
And on Tuesday, that trip of Bears was rewarded with trips to Orlando:
#PROBOWL BOUND. pic.twitter.com/QUC4zNaWZA
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) December 18, 2019
Mack, Patterson, and Jackson are headed to the Pro Bowl. Their representation of the Bears at the annual all-star game should serve as a reminder that this team wasn’t lacking star-power. And it should come as no surprise that the team’s best players are on the strongest groups.
This is old hat for Mack, who has been appointed to five consecutive Pro Bowls. For Jackson, this is his second straight year with a trip to the game featuring some of the game’s brightest stars. And for Patterson, this is his third Pro Bowl trip. But instead of being named as a returner, Patterson makes the squad as a gunner specialist in coverage.
Chicago also had three players named as Pro Bowl alternates. Cornerback Kyle Fuller, nose tackle Eddie Goldman, and punt returner Tarik Cohen will be the first guys up if players at their respective positions can’t make it to Orlando.
Last year’s Bears had eight representatives, capping a brilliant 12-4 campaign with Mack, Jackson, Fuller, and Cohen joining quarterback Mitch Trubisky, left tackle Charles Leno Jr., center Cody Whitehair, and defensive lineman Akiem Hicks in Florida. The Bears contingency will be lighter this year, which should serve as another piece of motivation to right the ship in 2020. Because who DOESN’T want to be in Orlando in January?