Had a fun “A-ha!” moment yesterday when I wanted to coax a friend out for a drink on a nice Sunday afternoon, only to realize that — because we’re both vaccinated — we can hang out without feeling like we’re putting anyone at risk. The resumption of regular hangs with friends should be enough incentive to get a poke in the arm. It’s legitimately euphoric to be with my friends again.
• All positive vibes on the Justin Fields front to start minicamp. The Athletic, Tribune, Sun-Times, and NBC Sports Chicago all have some quality perspective on the weekend’s happening. We’ve got a long ways to go until we get where we want. These are our first steps…
• There are 118 days until the Bears open up the regular season at the Rams. And I imagine that we’ll be spending plenty of time discussing who is (or isn’t) starting at quarterback between now and when that game kicks off. But in the meantime, what I’m hearing from Justin Fields is everything I need. Over the weekend, I found myself circling back to re-watching Field’s Friday press conference. Specifically, this caught my ear: “I think everybody on our team should be striving for a starting job. If you’re not, there’s no reason for you to be here.” And then there’s this: “Coach Nagy has set a plan for my development. But I’m just going to work hard, keep my head down, and keep grinding every day.”
• This is *PRECISELY* what you want to hear from your future franchise quarterback. Not only is there communication between the coach and quarterback about a developmental plan, the quarterback is essentially saying: Plan all you want, I’m here to show you I can win the dang thing. Thinking about it makes me feel tingly inside.
• The Chicago Bears franchise needs that kind of mindset and energy moving forward. And while I’m sure others on the team have it, that it comes from the quarterback position is of the utmost importance. The quarterback needs to be a leader on the field, to be sure. But they also need to be someone teammates follow in the locker room, in workouts, and with their football spirits. It’s a bit corny, I’ll admit. But there’s a reason the best QBs all have teammates falling in line and following their lead.
• There is a non-zero chance Fields starts early for the Bears. And at the root of Fields’ potential ascent to a starting role is that dare-to-be-great mindset. This was a good pull from Bleacher Report’s Tim Daniels, quoting ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler during a weekend SportsCenter update:
His comment this week that said, ‘I’m built for this kind of challenge,’ they love that. They want a true alpha; a guy who is going to answer the bell at every stop. He did that in the Clemson game last year at Ohio State, five-star quarterback in high school, and so, they’re just going to give him as much as he can handle. They like that he’s coming off of the 11th overall pick where he fell in the draft a little bit, they believe that will give him an edge.
This team thinks they can win with Andy Dalton, with a defense and capable ball-control offense, but if this guy comes along as fast as they think he might be able to, he can be in the lineup sooner than later.
• Plans be damned. If Fields shows he is better than Nick Foles and Andy Dalton, and the team knows it, Chicago won’t be able to run a non-Fields option out there for too long.
• Everyone is striving to put in that work:
T⏰NGA TIME!@BYUfootball alum @khyiristonga talks rookie minicamp. ⤵️
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) May 16, 2021
• This is straight-up RUDE:
A former Austin Peay defensive back, Juantarius Bryant, was the victim of a Falcons’ tryout hoax:https://t.co/HWXGSPvBEH
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 17, 2021
• I don’t imagine this goes away quietly:
In explaining his case for changing the offseason to @AlbertBreer, NFLPA President JC Tretter issues a good reminder about Ju’Wuan James and landing on the NFI list — players train year-round. https://t.co/JY1JP2Z3vH pic.twitter.com/0EIETC9Hcr
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 17, 2021
• Mini fridges, card games, and more are your Deals of the Day at Amazon. #ad
• I’m mildly annoyed by the Bulls winning their season finale. It drastically cut into their odds of keeping their first-round pick, which is lottery protected if it lands in the top-4. Tankathon has Chicago’s lottery odds at 20.4 percent. That’s not high enough for my liking. Well, at least Eli gets to enjoy the offseason:
This basically sums up the vibe of the 2020-21 season: pic.twitter.com/IQL8h7j8kj
— Elias Schuster (@Schuster_Elias) May 17, 2021