A day after setting the Chicago Bears’ initial 53-man roster, general manager Ryan Poles held a brief question-and-answer session with reporters Wednesday afternoon at Halas Hall.
Poles expressed optimism for the upcoming season with a roster he believes now has the talent and depth to compete for a playoff spot. He also continued to sing the praises of rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, whom he selected with the top draft pick in April.
Here are six things we learned from Poles’ news conference.
1. Ryan Poles’ expectations for Caleb Williams begin with leaning on the talent around him.
As Poles considered what he wants to see from Williams in his rookie season, he repeated a point he made before training camp — that Williams should lean on the wide array of talent Poles assembled to help him.
But Poles added another expectation to that Wednesday. He wants Williams to find a balance between using that help and relying on his instincts when he needs to make special plays, as he did a few times in the preseason.
“Sometimes it’s going to get out of whack one way or the other, but always come back to that,” Poles said. “It’s kind of like that neutral place where he’s at his best, and I think he has that just from studying him and watching years of tape on him.
“Lean on the guys around him, be instinctual, let those wild plays happen at the right time. We saw it in the preseason a little bit. That’s going to be important.”
Poles is pleased about how Williams has naturally connected with teammates this summer. And he admitted he had fun during camp watching Williams show some of the reasons the Bears drafted him.
But he didn’t let himself get too carried away either.
“I can’t ever let my mind go too far down that road. It’s always about improving,” Poles said. “But it’s good to see. Anytime you draft a player because of what you saw in college and you see some of those things transfer over to the pro game, that gets you excited.
“If it’s the other way, it scares the crap out of you. It’s like, ‘Where did that guy go?’ And we haven’t had that with really any of our draft picks. Everybody has been as advertised, if not better.”
2. Poles remains confident in coach Matt Eberflus’ ability to guide the Bears to a significant breakthrough in 2024.
When Poles hired Eberflus in 2022, the duo talked about a three-year plan to get the team positioned for sustainable success. Year 3 has arrived and Poles continues to laud Eberflus for his leadership.
Among Eberflus’ qualities that Poles highlighted Wednesday are his resilience through the turbulence and roster-building process of the last two seasons, his ability to continually adapt and adjust and, perhaps most significant, his assertive push to strengthen team chemistry.
“It’s those relationships,” Poles said. “He has had every single person on our team over at his house. They spend time there to get to know him better. There are (team) activities he did. And that was all done intentionally. It wasn’t just to do it and check a box. It was to really invest in our players and build that trust. Because you need that.”
3. Poles is proud of how he was able to overhaul the Bears receiving corps.
Without a first-round pick during his first draft as Bears GM in 2022, Poles acknowledged the team’s holes at the position but used his top two selections on defensive backs Kyler Gordon and Jaquan Brisker, staying true to the team’s draft grades and reminding himself and his staff there would be other opportunities to improve at wide receiver.
Over the past 18 months, Poles traded for proven veterans DJ Moore and Keenan Allen and selected Rome Odunze in the top 10 of this year’s draft. That trio headlines a receiving corps that also features Tyler Scott and DeAndre Carter.
That group appears to be one of the league’s better units and a clear upgrade over the five-receiver pack the Bears took into Week 1 two years ago: Darnell Mooney, Byron Pringle, Equanimeous St. Brown, Dante Pettis and Ihmir Smith-Marsette.
“There are a lot of cool things that happened and we used every different kind of way to acquire that talent. Which is great,” Poles said. “And there’s still space for us to improve as well. So we’re just kind of in the second phase of things.”
4. Poles feels equally enthused about the quality of his offensive line from top to bottom.
He called that 10-player group “probably the best depth I’ve ever had” at the position. Poles believes the combination of talent, depth and versatility on the line will be an asset.
Now comes the challenge of staying healthy. Left guard Teven Jenkins was limited during practice Wednesday. Ryan Bates continues to battle a shoulder injury that puts his availability for Week 1 in question. Rookie Kiran Amegadjie wasn’t cleared to began practicing until 10 days ago after a lengthy recovery from quadriceps surgery last fall.
And reserve interior lineman Bill Murray didn’t finish practice Wednesday, leaving the Bears to navigate the end of that session with a handful of practice-squad defensive players — Dashaun Mallory, Byron Cowart and Jamree Kromah — filling in on the second-unit offensive line.
5. The Bears re-signed fullback Khari Blasingame and added 14 players to the practice squad.
The Bears cut Blasingame on Tuesday but always intended to bring him back Wednesday after they put long snapper Patrick Scales on injured reserve. Blasingame has played in 32 games for the Bears over the last two seasons.
The Bears also brought back 14 players they cut Tuesday to the practice squad: quarterback Austin Reed, wide receiver Collin Johnson, tight end Stephen Carlson, offensive linemen Theo Benedet and Jake Curhan, defensive linemen Cowart, Kromah and Mallory, linebackers Micah Baskerville and Carl Jones, cornerbacks Reddy Steward and Ro Torrence and safeties Quindell Johnson and Tarvarius Moore.
They can sign two more players to the practice squad and can add a 17th player if he comes from the international program.
6. The Bears had a few lingering injury absences at practice.
Allen, defensive tackle Zacch Pickens and running back Roschon Johnson were among those who didn’t practice because of injury issues. Cornerback Jaylon Johnson also remained absent, presumably for personal reasons. Defensive end Montez Sweat was limited.
Poles expressed little concern about Allen, who he said was dealing with minor foot discomfort after a cleats issue.
Safety Kevin Byard returned to practice after missing recent time. Bates, who has a shoulder injury, was present but limited.
