This weekend has been quite the roller coaster for yours truly. Let’s push out some BN Bears Bullets and then make a brunch snack.
- It’s nice to see QB1 embrace the spotlight:
- The Chicago Bears have tried everything at quarterback. Gunslingers. Guys with quiet confidence. Players who were so green that they didn’t know any better. Rookies. Vets. Stop gaps. What they haven’t tried, until this point, is the quarterback who is so outlandishly out there that cameras gravitate to them โ and they embrace it. Maybe it’ll be different this time with the Bears and Caleb Williams.
- Also, I love that Rome Odunze is a ballpark dog guy. The stars, they really are just like us:
- I’ll let him slide on putting ketchup on a hotdog, but only because I don’t expect him to know better. Next time he orders a Chicago dog, I want him to tell the vendor to drag it through the garden. IYKYK.
- We’re 98 days from Chicago Bears football, which reminds me that if you take the stats Montez Sweat put up after being traded to Chicago, extrapolate them, and put them on a 17-game pace, they’d look like this: 11 sacks, 26 quarterback hits, 8 tackles-for-loss. If you could lock in those numbers from Sweat in 2024, you’d do it in a heartbeat.
- The folks at @NFLonPrime asked their followers to name a random corner. As a Bears fan, I can give you a starting lineup full of random cornerbacks: Donnell Woolford (Bears Pro Bowl CB in 1993), Walt Harris (Bears CB from 1996-2001 had 15 picks & 3 defensive TDs), R.W. McQuarters (3 INT and a fumble return TD for a division-title winning club in 2001), Nathan Vasher (2004 Pro Bowler, author of one of the greatest return TDs ever), Tim Jennings (2x Pro Bowler who had 16 interceptions with the Bears from 2010-13). Can you get more random than that?
- ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports the NFL is likely to come down this week with a resolution to the Falcons and Eagles tampering investigations. We’ve heard this before, only for it to be shot down. It is still hilarious to me that Ryan Pace and Darnell Mooney are key figures in an NFL tampering investigation revolving around Kirk Cousins’ free agency.
- Detroit Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell thinks that the NFL trimming its preseason schedule would hurt player development. I think I understand where he is coming from with this one. In recent years, I’ve come away feeling like the preseason is less about veterans who have been there and done that and more about getting an extended look at young players your team would like to develop. For instance, I love how the Bears deployed Roy Robertson-Harris in preseason games over the course of his rookie deal as part of his development. But NFL owners probably care more about cash flow than player development. Good luck threading that needle. (PFT)
- Green Bay Packers Head Coach Matt LaFleur on what he thinks the future holds for running back Josh Jacobs: “I think he is very capable of being a high-volume feature back where he gets a bulk of the carries, but we’ll see how it plays out.” The Packers did well splitting time with Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon. But after signing Jacobs in free agency, perhaps he’ll get a larger bulk of the carries. (FOX-11)
- Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Jordan Addison chimes in with a scouting report on rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy: “He’s got a nice, tight spiral. So you’ve got to make sure you catch it,” Addison said, via the team’s official website. “But I like him. J.J.’s been playing really well. Playing with confidence, anticipating throws. Making mistakes but learning from them.” It looks like Sam Darnold will get the first crack at starting in Minnesota. However, by the time the Bears play the Vikings, we might be treated to the first (of potentially many) Caleb Williams-J.J. McCarthy matchup.
- Here’s a random thing I missed from earlier in the weekend:
- I remember Gable Steveson had a brief run with the WWE. But as it turns out, he wasn’t the second coming of Kurt Angle. Perhaps life in the NFL will treat him better.
BLEACHER NATION ON X/TWITTER: Bears | Cubs | Blackhawks | Bulls
- Every time Tab types GMKD, I think of GKMC (the Kendrick Lamar album). Anyway, here is today’s set of BN Blackhawks Bullets.
- Over at BN Bulls: Caitlin Clark was able to get some revenge on Angel Reese and Kamila Cardoso as the Indiana Fever beat the Chicago Sky in their first matchup as WNBA players. It was a fun game, though. I’m looking forward to seeing that matchup more as the years go on.
- It was nice to wake up to see highlights from a Chicago Cubs win: