Fromm-Flea-Flicker Fun, Getting Chippy with Mack, Mic’d Up Kwiatkoski, and Other Bears Bullets

Jan 02, 2020

It’s not necessarily a new year’s resolution, but getting more sleep is on my priority list for 2020. And while I’m not off to great start, I did purchase a new mattress — which was high on my to-do list for this year — so I am off to a good start. Let’s keep the good vibes rolling.

ICYMI: The Bears are reportedly bringing in Juan Castillo to be their new offensive line coach. Castillo, 60, is a seasoned NFL assistant who has coached on both sides of the ball, was a long-time assistant under Andy Reid in Philadelphia, has ties to Matt Nagy having worked on the same Eagles staff, and has experience as a run-game coordinator. At minimum, at least the Bears appear to be serious about fixing two problematic areas of their offense.

As Adam Jahns tweeted on New Year’s Eve, the decision behind parting ways with highly acclaimed OL Coach Harry Hiestand (and the other offensive coaches) was due to whatever role they had in being in charge of the running game. But even if that is the case, a chunk of that burden should go onto the play-caller (with less of the blame going to the offensive coordinator, line coach, or whoever else was in charge of schematics). I’ll be curious as to who the Bears hire to coach tight ends, as well as who gets the call as the offensive coordinator. But more on that later.

My favorite part of yesterday’s bowl games:

Flea Flicker!!!!
Jake Fromm (@FrommJake)
to
George Pickens (@geo_Thagoat)#SugerBowl | #GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/0NQb9iVvrZ

— GEORGIA HEROES (@GeorgiaHeroes) January 2, 2020

I love a good flea-flicker, but hate that we have to wait another 11 days for the next meaningful college football game.

Look, I don’t mind that there are so many bowl games. It’s not like we’re watching anything else of importance in late December and early January. But the scheduling of this year’s games was whack. Schedule-makers need to do better in 2020/2021. Frankly, it shouldn’t be that hard.

A brief aside regarding that Georgia-Baylor game. UGA’s Jake Fromm completed 20 of 30 passes for 250 yards and two touchdowns. It was a perfectly cromulent performance from Fromm, who is one of the five best draft-eligible quarterback prospects in this upcoming class. His career numbers and accomplishments at Georgia are pretty legit (8,224 passing yards, 78 TDs, three SEC East championships), but whether he’ll take the leap to the NFL or come back to school to tighten some things up and make it a clean 4-0 against arch-rival Florida remains to be seen.

Despite never having a rooting interest in the outcome, the Rose Bowl remains my favorite January 1 game:

IT HAPPENED pic.twitter.com/P14DrBFnTG

— BUM CHILLUPS (@edsbs) January 2, 2020

The Bears put Nick Kwiatkoski on “Mic’d Up” in what might have been his last game with the Bears:

Kwiatkoski, Danny Trevathan, and Kevin Pierre-Louis are set to hit free agency when the new league year begins in March. The Bears will have a tough decision ahead as to what to do at inside linebacker. But of all the positions the Bears have to fill this offseason, I have the most confidence in them making the right decision in filling the spot next to Roquan Smith. Throughout the years, Chicago’s football team has seemingly always found a way to fill that particular spot. We know the obvious names, but even role players like Kwiatkoski, Pierre-Louis, and Christian Jones successfully filled in from time to time without a hitch in the process.

I suppose you can say things were chippy for Khalil Mack in 2019:

Opposing offenses used extra blockers to "chip" Khalil Mack 58 times in 2019, the 3rd-most of any edge rusher in the NFL

(via @PFF_Neil) pic.twitter.com/cuidfwt2Y4

— PFF CHI Bears (@PFF_Bears) January 2, 2020

Missed it by that much:

Von has the edge over Mack pic.twitter.com/ASDYg3quWa

— PFF (@PFF) January 2, 2020

Driving in the winter-time sucks:

#Bears LB Roquan Smith fortunate he wasn't injured in crash just outside Halas Hall Tuesday morning while GM Ryan Pace & coach Matt Nagy analyzed the season.https://t.co/zaggDDyMSL
— Brad Biggs (@BradBiggs) December 31, 2019

The 2019 season was a trying one for Roquan Smith. And for the calendar year with a car accident stinks. Thankfully, he was un-injured in the accident.

On a brighter note, congrats #17:

https://twitter.com/AnthonyMiller_3/status/1212432495750373376?s=20

Anthony Miller (@AnthonyMiller_3) was named GoTigers247 Tigers’ Football Player of the Decade.

Born and raised in Memphis, Anthony exemplifies everything about this city and continues to shine in the NFL. pic.twitter.com/UVIkjPyLOw

— GoTigers247 – The Memphis 247Sports Affiliate (@GoTigers247) January 1, 2020

David Stern – the most influential commissioner in NBA history – passed away on January 1. Current (Roger Goodell) and former (Paul Tagliabue) NFL commissioners shared statements:

Here’s NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on former NBA commissioner David Stern: pic.twitter.com/eEDLP1q6Wi

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 1, 2020

Former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue on the passing of David Stern: pic.twitter.com/9rLBKMhJvT

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 2, 2020

Amazon’s deals are heavy on workout, diet, recovery type stuff, which makes sense because it’s early January. #ad

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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Fromm-Flea-Flicker Fun, Getting Chippy with Mack, Mic’d Up Kwiatkoski, and Other Bears Bullets

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