NEWSLETTER
Only one sleep until fans get to see Bears training camp practices with their own two eyes. See you folks there!
In the meantime, let’s roundup some highlights during Matt Eberflus’ first practice.
N’Keal Harry’s Surprise
If N’Keal Harry regains the form that made him a first-round pick in 2019, I’ll be telling stories that begin “I’ll never forget where I was when the Bears made the N’Keal Harry trade.” That’s because it was on what had otherwise been a slow news day during the part of the football offseason that crawls. I was having drinks with a friend and mapping out dinner plans when the push notification came on my phone. While simultaneously banging out a post and sipping a brewski, I was explaining how this was a nice low-cost roll-of-the-dice for a Bears team that was in dire need of receiver help.
Had I not been out and about, I probably would’ve found out in a similar way to Harry:
Nothing like waking up from a solid afternoon nap to news of your own trade. And since his time with the Patriots was a slog, I can only imagine the excitement that came over Harry’s body knowing he was getting a clean slate with a new team.
For what it’s worth, Harry isn’t taking this new lease on a football life lightly:
I’m looking forward to see the receivers at work tomorrow. And Harry is at the top of my list.
Time to Get Hard
Here’s a shot…
… and a chaser:
The two tweets work hand-in-hand. And together, they remind us of something from the past. That’s because former Bears coach Matt Nagy used to talk about callousing the Bears through practice. While the idea was a good one, execution of the plan wasn’t what folks wanted it to be over the long haul. Hence, it is one reason as to why Nagy is the former head coach. But where Nagy talked about it, the ridiculously early returns at Camp Flus is that the practices are a bit more spirited.
All in all, this is an encouraging development. Although, be sure not to cross the line. The NFL and NFLPA definitely have eyes on the Bears after Chicago’s football team got caught in the crosshairs for its practice tactics during OTAs.
Eddie Jackson Goes Back to the Future
Eddie Jackson is a familiar face spending time in a new place on Wednesday:
As CHGO’s Adam Hoge points out, Jackson was a star punt returner in college. And when we did our draft pick write-up back in 2017, we highlighted Jackson’s special teams skills as a plus. Jackson briefly fielded punts during his first training camp in Chicago. But it wasn’t long until John Fox pulled him from that role to install him as a starting safety. Good call, Foxy.
Roquan Smith’s New Role
ICYMI: Roquan Smith is starting the summer on the PUP list. In what is likely a show of good faith by GM Ryan Poles to sidestep fining Smith for missing practices after showing up to camp, the Bears star linebacker will be on the sidelines and not on the field. Even though Smith will be roaming the sidelines, Eberflus still has plans for the tackling machine:
I’m glad Eberflus is excited to coach Smith. And I’d bet he’d be even *MORE* excited if he knew Smith would be here beyond this year on a nice extension from the team.
