NEWSLETTER
With sunset scheduled for 7:41 p.m. CT, I’m going to try and have socially distanced backyard baseball watching on the projector screen. In lieu of a postgame fireworks show, I’ve already mapped out a concert video I want to see that I bookmarked on YouTube. Happy Friday, friends!
• It looks like someone is trying to lobby for the all-important Allen Robinson vote in the QB derby:
#Bears QB Mitch Trubisky on #GMFB:
"Allen [Robinson] is the best wide receiver in the NFC."
— Nicholas Moreano (@NicholasMoreano) August 21, 2020
• Read it again, friends. Allen Robinson isn’t just the best receiver in the NFC North. Mitchell Trubisky believes Robinson is the best in the entire dang NFC. Based on how often Trubisky targets Robinson, I would say his actions back up those words. And considering who’s throwing Robinson the ball, I think Trubisky is onto something with his belief in Robinson being the top receiver in the conference. Maybe Julio Jones, Davante Adams, and DeAndre Hopkins will have something to say to the contrary, but I don’t care what they think.
• It sounds like Trubisky’s practice faux pas was a negative blip on what otherwise was a solid practice effort:
https://twitter.com/TheAthleticCHI/status/1296571138571730948?s=20
• It’s ridiculously easy to root for Trubisky in this QB derby. Trubisky is the embattled incumbent who is playing the underdog role. He has said and done all the right things this offseason. Work out with a private QB instructor? Check. Bring together teammates for workouts? Double check. Let an offseason in which the Bears traded for his potential replacement and not pick up his fifth-year option roll off his back? That’s a trifecta. The Trubisky rebound story – however unlikely it might be in your eyes – is a script-writer’s dream. So let’s see how it plays out.
• Anyone who thinks Trubisky isn’t getting any support simply isn’t paying attention:
I'm rooting for Mitch to win the starting job. Here's my argument for it: https://t.co/8QxPpPHJVF
— Laurence Holmes (@LaurenceWHolmes) August 21, 2020
• In a way, Bears fans should hope Trubisky wins the starting job. If he lives up to his draft billing, it would be one of the great sports success stories of all-time. And no, I’m not being hyperbolic with this statement. Think about Trubisky’s quarterbacking journey:
→ Benched at North Carolina
→ One-year star starter
→ First QB off the board in his draft class
→ Opened his first NFL camp behind Mike Glennon and Mark Sanchez
→ Still started 12 games after Glennon flopped
→ Looked competent running an offense as a second-year QB
→ Led the Bears to a division title/playoff berth
→ Earned a Pro Bowl alternate spot
→ Saw his production fall off the map in Year 3 as a starter
→ Watched his team dabble in the QB market and ultimately trade for a player to push (replace?) him
• That’s a heck of a journey, my friends. And the story isn’t done being written yet.
• While much-maligned Bears QBs are on my mind, Jay Cutler is back on Instagram:
• Also, let’s take some time to wish the Punky QB happy birthday:
.@JimMcMahon’s bday MOOD, probably. pic.twitter.com/Vz7W0DJL2i
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) August 21, 2020
• Ooh, check out this practice notebook from Jeff Hughes at Da Bears Blog.
• OOF. This hurt:
Washington Head Coach Ron Rivera tells me he has been diagnosed with lymph node cancer after a self check. Rivera shared the news with his team tonight but says the cancer is in the early stages and is considered “very treatable and curable”.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 21, 2020
More Ron Rivera: “I’m planning to go on coaching. Doctors encouraged me to do it, too. They said, ‘If you feel strongly, do it. Don’t slow down, do your physical activities.’ But everyone keeps telling me by week three or four, you’ll start feeling it.”
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 21, 2020
• I’d like to take a moment to wish Washington Head Coach Ron Rivera and his family the best in these tough times. Rivera was a popular Bears player and defensive coach before moving onto other football endeavors. Keep fighting, coach.
• Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports has an extensive profile of retired quarterback Erik Kramer that ventures into must-read territory. Wetzel’s writing offers up details of how the ex-Bears QB is recovering physically (and mentally) after his suicide attempt in 2016. It’s an emotional read that includes some tough to stomach anecdotes. But it’s something worth spending some time on today.
• So much for the Lions’ belief that they’d host eight home games with fans:
Ford Field to not have fans at Lions first two 2020 home games: https://t.co/Bg0ucXwgwJ pic.twitter.com/P6qTy3eyBV
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) August 21, 2020
• The reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs announced they are banning fans from wearing head-dresses and specific face paint at home games. It’s a move designed to eliminate offensive and insensitive Native American imagery from being associated with the team. This feels like a step in the right direction, so I can respect this move.
• I still don’t like it, and I think it’s a total cop out, but I guess I can understand it:
Teams often hide players during the preseason so they can sneak them through to the practice squad. With no preseason, there's scouting going on right here. So this is why the #Packers restricted the media's reporting. Points for honesty, at least. https://t.co/dpew5UlCVe
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) August 20, 2020
• Is an Adam Gase/Dowell Loggains/Kevin White reunion party on the horizon?
New York Jets working out free-agent WR Kevin White, per @RapSheethttps://t.co/SfS8r2Sv6V pic.twitter.com/EHwMYlF1g3
— Around The NFL (@AroundTheNFL) August 20, 2020
• Thom Brennaman is done calling football at FOX:
Fox Sports axes Thom Brennaman out of NFL coverage after anti-gay slur during Reds game last night. “The language used was abhorrent, unacceptable, and not representative of the values of FOX Sports…We are moving forward with our NFL schedule which will not include him.”
— Eric Fisher (@EricFisherSBG) August 20, 2020
• Here’s the story if you missed why.
• Crosstown Showdown is on deck for our friends at BN Cubs:
Eloy and Cease Return to the North Side: White Sox at Cubs, August 21-23, 2020 https://t.co/NSkGoZWTB0 pic.twitter.com/bNxND7BvES
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) August 21, 2020
• Finally, some good news for the Bulls:
EAT IT, SEVEN: Chicago Bulls Land No. 4 Pick in 2020 NBA Draft! https://t.co/g2G9Ad3BgZ
— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) August 21, 2020
• But whatever you do, make sure to heed this advice: If a San Francisco based team asks if you’re interested in trading up for the second overall pick, hang up. In fact, don’t answer the phone. Trust me.
• Changing communities for the better:
On the site where a looted liquor store once stood, teens now run Austin Harvest, an open-air market stocked with produce, flowers and hope. @HeidiStevens13 visited the store that Sam Acho and Chicago athletes helped fund and talked to teens that run it. https://t.co/21kfSh8rya
— Colleen Kane (@ChiTribKane) August 20, 2020
• Ending this set of Bullets on a serious note:
Don't take your vote for granted. #NFLVotes (via @Grindin_59) pic.twitter.com/Ji6tuckPSm
— NFL (@NFL) August 20, 2020
