The Chicago Bears on Thursday held their last observe of the week at Halas Hall and can journey to Cleveland for Saturday’s preseason finale in opposition to the Browns. Coach Matt Eberflus is keen for his workforce to take another check underneath recreation circumstances with most of his starters anticipated to play till halftime. Here are three issues we discovered Thursday in Lake Forest.
1. Offensive lineman Teven Jenkins is keen to proceed his transition to proper guard.
In simply his second week of observe on the place, Jenkins has been put in place to probably win a beginning position and believes he has strengths inside his ability set to assist him.
“My physicality,” he stated after Thursday’s observe. “It’s like you have a dude right there, right now instead of (having) all this space. At tackle, you have a lot of time to think about what’s going to happen and a lot of space to execute whatever technique you’re thinking about. At guard it’s happening a lot quicker — like really fast.”
Jenkins, who figures to start out Saturday evening, was requested if the fitting guard place was his to win and confirmed veteran savvy in joking round a direct reply.
“That’s kind of like a ‘headline’ question right there,” Jenkins stated with amusing. “I don’t know. I’m never one to be like, ‘Yeah, this is my job.’ Because that just sets (up) for bad chemistry throughout the whole team. I just don’t believe in that.”
Jenkins does consider he can stake a declare for a number one position with a powerful efficiency in Cleveland.
“Just keep being physical,” he stated. “No MAs (missed assignments). Don’t mess up and just trust myself.”
Jenkins missed seven consecutive practices early in coaching camp with an undisclosed damage. He has been the topic of ongoing commerce hypothesis and started camp taking observe reps with the second- and third-unit offense as proper sort out. In the final 10 days, he has added a place change to his plate. So forgive the 24-year-old lineman for describing the previous month as “a roller coaster and a mix of emotions.”
As September nears, he’s seeking to have the ultimate phrase.
“It’s a lot about seizing opportunity,” he stated. “That’s one thing I’m looking forward to doing this weekend.”
2. Matt Eberflus provided extra element on the origins of the HITS precept.
By now, Bears followers ought to know the famend Flus-ian acronym fairly effectively and perceive that the brand new coach and his assistants are always evaluating gamers on hustle, depth, turnovers and situational smarts. Those issues are a relentless focus at observe. Plus there’s an in depth grading system to measure efficiency in these classes throughout video games.
Eberflus reiterated Thursday that the lightbulb for his HITS philosophy first went off in 2013 or 2014 whereas he was a linebackers coach for the Dallas Cowboys working underneath coordinator/defensive position coach Rod Marinelli.
“I would look at his drills and how he did his thing with the defensive line … and I said, ‘Well, shoot. This guy is a master coach,’” Eberflus stated. “ ‘I’m going to try to be as good as him and do it his way.’ Then I was like, ‘I’m going to come up with something I can measure so that I can give immediate feedback to the players.’ Now everything is measured. Every play, every detail.”
In the depth class, for instance, Eberflus stated he focuses on the ultimate 3 yards of each play, assessing how defenders are tackling and accelerating by way of the top of every sequence. The Bears teaching workers additionally identifies gamers who present a scarcity of hustle and pushes to appropriate that. Furthermore, there’s a relentless demand for defenders to assault the soccer to dislodge it.
“Are you really stripping at it every play?” Eberflus stated. “It’s not simply sticking your hand on the market to appease me. But are you actually going after it? We coach that each single play. It’s all measured, so you may coach particulars each single play.
“What you’ll see is that when you do that with your offense, defense and kicking (game), your team will understand the exact standard. Because everything is on the table. You don’t hide anything.”
3. The Bears stay short-handed at receiver heading into the ultimate preseason recreation.
Rookie Velus Jones Jr. missed the final 5 practices with an undisclosed damage after delivering an encouraging preseason debut in Seattle. Jones could be an extended shot to play in opposition to the Browns.
Veteran Tajae Sharpe hasn’t practiced since recording two catches for 44 yards in opposition to the Kansas City Chiefs on Aug. 13. Byron Pringle additionally has been out for nearly three weeks with a quadriceps damage, and Eberflus has not set a timetable for his return.
“When you lose time on the grass, it’s always hard to come back (and catch up),” Eberflus stated. “I told Byron and the other guys who are out that, hey, you’ve got to stay locked in to the game plan. You have to have visualization at night to go through the plays and make sure you know how to align and how to do your job on that particular play.”
N’Keal Harry, in the meantime, might be out deep into the common season after having surgical procedure on his left ankle.
It’s removed from excellent for the Bears passing assault. As quarterback Justin Fields appears to be like to construct momentum Saturday, he may have to take action with an undermanned receiving corps.
Darnell Mooney and Equanimeous St. Brown might be out there. Beyond that, the opposite receivers on the roster are Dante Pettis, Isaiah Coulter, Nsimba Webster, Chris Finke and Kevin Shaa.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com