NEWSLETTER
MLB at Field of Dreams was the best thing the league has done in quite some time. Good luck topping a game that featured everything you’d want in a ball game. The combination of hard-throwing pitchers, dingers, and late-game heroics will get you hooked every time.
I’m not sure how the NFL could copycat such an event, which is a reminder of how unique that situation was last night in Iowa. But after sleeping on it, the best I could come up with is putting the two best HBCUs in a prime-time bowl game setting. Sugar Bowl? Rose Bowl? Make sure you televise the battle of the bands at halftime, then watch a new audience fall in love with a side of football they’ve never seen before.
• Only one more sleep until the Bears’ first preseason game of 2021. In the meantime, I’ll be dreaming of this throw and catch:
Justin Fields to Jimmy Graham lookin like a problem 👀 #Bears pic.twitter.com/fjUbLaIMfs
— Sky Kruse (@KruseSports_) August 13, 2021
• Justin Fields takes his first game snaps on Saturday. It’s easily the most excited I’ve been about (1) a player and (2) an exhibition game. The feeling I have right now tops how I felt while escaping that unforgiving Chicago chill for the sun-blasted fields of Mesa, Ari., for spring training in 2016 before that magical Cubs season. We knew there was the potential of seeing the first steps toward a bigger deal back then, and I’m feeling that now with Fields. It’s just two weeks of practice, but the buzz hasn’t subsided. Fields’ good days aren’t met with “ifs,” “buts,” or other caveats. And, for me, that might be the most impressive thing of all. No qualifiers. Fields looks good in practice. Now, we’ll see how it translates to a preseason game, then we’ll go on from there.
• ICYMI: Fields is set to get a lot of reps in tomorrow’s preseason opener. But it’s not just that, because it’s the potential to work with starters early, then work into the fourth quarter that has me going.
• I love joint practices for stuff like this:
👀 @JBrissett12 ➡️➡️ @D1__JW pic.twitter.com/2zHidO5Yni
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) August 12, 2021
• Oh, to be a fly on the wall when Jaylen Waddle and Eddie Jackson link up at the next Alabama Crimson Tide get-together.
• Saturday’s Bears-Dolphins game will feature a pair players Doug Farrar (Touchdown Wire) envisions having breakout seasons. Our eyes will be on Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa and Bears WR Darnell Mooney. As for future Bears opponents, there are several sprinkled in that we’ll need to keep tabs on. Among them are Jeff Okudah (Lions CB), Isaiah Simmons (Cardinals LB), Alex Highsmith (Steelers EDGE), Javon Kinlaw (49ers DL), Henry Ruggs III (Raiders WR), and Brandon Aiyuk (49ers WR). Admittedly, I wish there were more Bears on this list. But with strong performances against this collection of talent, perhaps we’ll have some good and young Bears players to highlight as this season progresses.
• How can you not love Allen Robinson?
.@AllenRobinson continued to invest in Chicago kids this summer. The Bears WR cut the ribbon on the city’s second @ARWithinReach reading zone space at Orville T. Bright School, providing hundreds of age-appropriate books for students. #CommunityFriday
(📸: @ChicagoBears) pic.twitter.com/StMPoNtiei— NFLPA (@NFLPA) August 13, 2021
• It is fantasy football draft season, and Kristopher Knox (B/R) has red flags players must avoid. I’m not one to avoid red flags — hey, back off, I’m being honest about myself! — but I’ll heed any and all advice that comes my way this fantasy season.
• For your listening (and viewing) pleasure:
Hoge & Jahns.
The "Justin Fields had quite the practice against the Dolphins" episode. @TheAthletic: https://t.co/rP7lMauMiV
iTunes: https://t.co/lB5foZ2jY2
YouTube: https://t.co/opdiABiQAy
— Adam Jahns (@adamjahns) August 13, 2021
