Random Thoughts/Quick Hits

I've been away for a bit, so I thought I'd post some random thoughts before tonight's game at New York.  First, let me copy and paste some notes I had taken while watching the last preseason game against the Redskins:

This Cutler to Marshall could be a serious hook-up for us for 10 years.
WOW Jay has a cannon.
That first drive was unlike any I can recall from recent memory.
I have NOT been impressed with Gabe Carimi.
Henry Melton could soon be thought of as one of Chicago's great defensive players.
Chris Spencer sucks.
I still sometimes root for the Bears to give Forte chances near the goal line.  Michael Bush might be changing that.
I'm not happy with our special teams coverage units.
I love McClellin's motor, but he REALLY needs to get stronger.
This looks like a top 5 offense in the NFL.
Alshon Jeffery looks better and better and better.  REALLY impressed.
Did I just see Lovie Smith smiling?
I repeat, I'm not happy with our special teams coverage units.
I hope Podlesh is ok.  I like him.
Scary injury to Brandon Hardin.  Thank God he's ok.
I wish we'd see more of Evan Rodriguez with the 1's, but he just showed why we don't.
Good job by our LT's today.
Most years we'd be SCREAMING to make Chris Summers our starting split end.  Now he's a practice squad guy.  What a difference a year makes.
As I typed that, Summers dropped what should've been a TD.
Jay Cutler was just asked who called the pass to Marshall on the first play, him or Tice.  Jay smiled and said "well, Mike (Tice) gives us some flexibility.  When we get single coverage out there, we're going to attack it."  LOVE that!!
Evan Rodriguez again flashing his potential.  I hope we see continued development from him.
Robbie Gould is great.

Some of this is what I'll be looking for tonight.  I'll be looking for more good play from our LT's (isn't that the first thing we all think of before each preseason game?).  I'm also hoping to see better play from our special teams.  We can't be giving up that kind of field position constantly (while I'm sure that Robbie has intentionally not kicked some balls through the end zone during the preseason, that's not the point).  I continue to enjoy watching the rookies McClellin, Jeffery and Rodriguez and hope to continue to see development from them.

Being the third preseason game, I will also be tracking our personnel groupings and what plays we run out of each one.  I'll be doing that all year and reporting on it right here every week, but I'll do that tonight also since the Bears will have gameplanned (to some extent) for this game.  I'm very interested to see how well Tice can maintain a healthy run/pass split out of each personnel grouping.  Ironically, our O-line issues might help in that regard.  Because of the need to help our line protect, we'll often have two tight-ends in the game (12 and 22 personnel).  That type of personnel on the field would usually key the defense to a running play, but we will be passing out of that grouping almost more out of necessity than design.  This will help keep a defense guessing and should help Tice as he gets accustomed to his new role of offensive playcaller.

Urlacher Undergoes Knee Scope

Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher underwent an arthroscopic procedure on his left knee on Tuesday.  Head Coach Lovie Smith described the procedure as a “minor scope” and said “there shouldn’t be any reason to really be concerned.”  Of course, this sounds like what Lovie has been saying all along.  That was before 54 started missing practices.  That was before this procedure.  That was before Urlacher’s status for the beginning of the regular season was in jeopardy.

I’m not saying that Lach won’t be ready for the regular season.  He very well may be.  Teammate Nick Roach had a similar procedure done before the regular season in 2010 and played in the opener 2 ½ weeks later.  What I am saying is that I don’t believe anything that Lovie or Emery tell us.  Take it all with a grain of salt.

Back to Urlacher, though, I guess the best we can do now is just hope for a smooth recovery.  Urlacher himself has said that he doubts he’ll be without pain in the knee for the entire season.  It is entirely possible that he’ll practice very little and then play on Sundays.  If anybody can do that effectively, it’s probably him.  What this all means for his contract status is a discussion for another day.  For now, let’s just hope that this doesn’t derail what could be a very special season.

Bears O-Line, They Are Who We Thought They Were

That was my first thought after watching the Bears first preseason game.  I’m not one to overreact to preseason games, especially the first one when four of our best players didn’t even sniff the field, but our offensive line continues to unimpress.  J’Marcus Webb played well into the fourth quarter and had a false start and gave up a sack.  Chris Spencer gave up a sack in limited action.  UDFA James Brown, a player I’m admittedly a fan of, played very poorly at LT in the end of the 4^th quarter giving up one sack and being at least partially to blame for another one.  RT Gabe Carimi surprisingly failed to generate any push in the running game while he was in.  In general, the interior of the line allowed pressure up the middle repeatedly.  All in all, it was one preseason game.  The fact remains though, that they’ve thus far given me no reason to believe they’ll be anything but bad this season.  Until they do, I’ll be working with that assumption.

Other notes from the first game:

Shea McClellin looked ok.  He flashed his speed and relentlessness in getting his first sack as a pro.  He did, however, get run over on the Broncos first touchdown and he clearly needs to play with better pad level in the running game.  He also needs to develop counter moves to beat O-linemen, but that will expectedly take some time and be a work in progress.  Summary:  he has good speed, a high motor and struggles in the running game.  He too is what we thought he was, at least for now.

Alshon Jeffery played pretty well.  He used his size well and displayed good hands.  He needs to continue to use his hands better to beat press coverage, but he looks like he could be a contributor sooner rather than later.

Major Wright made an interception on a tipped pass, but was later removed due to a hamstring issue.  His durability continues to be a concern.

I was hoping to see more of Evan Rodriguez, but most of his usefulness during the season will be through personnel mismatches.  The Bears will achieve this by moving him around from as in-line tight end to the slot to H-back, etc.  Since the Bears won’t gameplan until the third preseason game (and even then in a limited capacity), I don’t expect to know exactly how (or how much) we’ll utilize him until the season starts.

In the end, it was just the first preseason game.  It was quite ugly, but that is to be expected when Jay Cutler, Matt Forte, Brian Urlacher and Julius Peppers all sit out.  The most important outcome was that nobody was injured and the Bears should’ve gotten some good film to look at and work off of as they prepare for next week’s game in Washington.

FINALLY!!! Bears open preseason tonight.

The preseason is finally upon us as the Bears will take on the Denver Broncos tonight at Soldier Field.  In a game filled with side stories, Bears fans will get their first look at the Jay Cutler to Brandon Marshall connection since they were teammates with these very same Broncos in 2008.  While this is the biggest story for Bears fans, the biggest story for most NFL fans will be their first look at Payton Manning with the Broncos.  When it’s all said and done, however, the fact remains that this is still week 1 of the preseason and the starters on both teams will be expected to play less than one quarter of action.  What else should Bears fans watch for?

Other than watching Brandon Marshall in a Bears uniform, I’m most eager to get a look at the performances of the Bears left tackles; J’Marcus Webb and Chris Williams.  While Webb appeared to win the “competition” for the starting job, Offensive Coordinator Mike Tice has acknowledged that Webb hasn’t played great and he is not a lock to start week 1 of the regular season.  If Webb struggles (especially with mental mistakes, which Tice hates), it is entirely possible that Williams will be starting the next preseason game and this could turn into a legitimate competition.

I’m also looking forward to seeing our rookie draft picks in action.  Specifically, I’ll be watching out for Shea McClellin (#99), Alshon Jeffery (#17), Evan Rodriguez (#88) and undrafted free agent O-lineman James Brown (#78).  For McClellin, watch to see if he can effectively use counter moves when engaged with an O-lineman.  Look to see if Jeffery can beat press coverage.  With Rodriguez, I’m most interested in where he lines up and how the Bears utilize him.  While the gameplan will be very vanilla, it will still be interesting to see if he lines up as an H-back, an inline blocker or at the Y in 21 (or 12) personnel.  As for James Brown, I’m also interested in where he lines up the most.  Judging by what I’ve heard from training camp, the coaching staff is taking a pretty good look at him at the LT spot.  I can’t help but wonder if he’s in consideration for the swing tackle spot.

So, it should be a very entertaining game from many angles.  I didn’t even mention Tice’s offense,  Brandon Hardin, Matt Forte or Jason Campbell.  I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited for a Bears season and likewise I’ve never been this excited for a Bears preseason game.  It’s finally here.