The Chicago Bears got back to practice Saturday morning at Halas Hall for the first time since the preseason opener, and it was a 1-hour, 49-minute session without pads.
Here’s a rundown from the practice and the news conferences afterward.
News of the day
Five starters for the defense — if you include nickel cornerback Kyler Gordon — and 40% of the starting offensive line were held out of practice, but the Bears remain adamant it is mostly minor stuff they are monitoring and hope a good number of players will return soon.
Gordon, cornerback Tyrique Stevenson, strong safety Jaquan Brisker, defensive end Montez Sweat and defensive tackle Andrew Billings didn’t practice, but overall it was still a positive day for the defense. Right tackle Darnell Wright, who did not practice Wednesday, remained sidelined, and right guard Nate Davis was still out.
Eberflus hinted that some players will be back in action Sunday — a practice that will be in full pads — before a scheduled day off Monday. He said the team is entering the “thick” of training camp, and the goal will be to have most if not all frontline players in action for the preseason game at Buffalo on Saturday.
Player in the spotlight
Defensive end Dominique Robinson might face an uphill battle to keep a roster spot after the team drafted Austin Booker in the fifth round and brought in veteran Jacob Martin in free agency, although Martin has missed more than a week with what looked to be a foot or ankle injury.
Robinson started Thursday’s preseason game and had 15 snaps without recording any statistics. He did show up in practice during 11-on-11 periods. Robinson had a clear pressure of quarterback Caleb Williams on a play that started with a low shotgun snap. Williams wound up throwing the ball away on what potentially could have been a sack. Two plays later, Robinson fell on a muffed handoff exchange between Williams and running back D’Andre Swift.
Photos: Chicago Bears 21, Houston Texans 17 in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game
Later in the team period, Robinson got great pressure off the left side on No. 2 quarterback Tyson Bagent and was there again to blow up a third-down play in the red zone at the end of practice. It’s difficult to evaluate because players weren’t in pads, but it’s hard to miss when a defensive lineman is routinely in the backfield.
“He’s really built his body up,” Eberflus said. “He’s done some good things in the offseason and we really see that he has become a better run player. He’s been able to set the edge, be stout on the edge of the defense. He’s always been great in pursuit and those things.
“Where we want him to grow the most is his ability to finish at the top of his rush, the ability to, as Bill Polian would say, bore around the edge, the ability to turn that corner with your toes pointing toward the quarterback, and he’s getting better at that. We just need to see more consistency on that.”
After getting 550 snaps as a rookie in 2022, Robinson’s playing time was reduced last season by nearly 50% (242 snaps) as he had a six-game stretch of being inactive. He had 12 tackles and a half-sack in 11 games. It’s a crowded mix and the Bears have a need. Robinson needs to take what he did in practice and replicate that in preseason action.
Caleb Williams watch
The defense carried the day, but Eberflus pointed out that Williams and the offense rallied after the Robinson fumble recovery. Because most of the day was spent with drills starting in the high red zone (just outside the 20-yard line), it’s not as if the offense could put together 60-plus-yard drives.
Williams threaded a really nice pass along the boundary to Keenan Allen for a touchdown. Allen was running a wheel route, somewhat similar to a play rookie Rome Odunze hit with earlier in the week. Safety Kevin Byard was close in coverage, but there was no contact and the veteran provided context.
“I could have easily reached up or tried to punch the ball through him,” Byard said. “In my eyes, I would have had to really go through him, and we didn’t have no pads on. I probably would have fell on him. He might have hit his shoulder. There are always certain plays in practice where I feel as a veteran you have to know how to practice, know how to protect your teammates.
“We’re going to need Keenan to have a big year. In certain situations, there are times to go up and make a play on the ball. And in certain situations it’s, ‘Hey, this guy is working on his stuff, he made the catch, the crowd went crazy.’ In the game, even if he made the catch, we definitely would have both fell to the ground. You have to know how to practice. Real athletes never touch the ground in practice.”
Williams also connected with DJ Moore on a nice in-breaking route coming off a play fake. At the end of practice, Williams was able to escape the pocket to his right and had Odunze wide open, but the rookie, who lost a cleat on the play, dropped a wobbly delivery.
“Execution is No. 1,” said tight end Cole Kmet when asked about the progress of the offense. “Guys going to the right spots, lining up in the right areas, breaking the huddle correctly. All of those things are really important and that’s kind of what we are looking at right now, operationally.
“I think we’ve had some hiccups here the past couple of weeks with that. But I think when you get to postsnap stuff, Caleb has been pretty special. You can see why he’s the No. 1 overall pick when he’s been making some of these throws he’s making.”
Quote of note
Kmet wore a Julius Peppers No. 90 Bears jersey to the game Thursday night. Team staff members were handing out jerseys to players. Given a choice, Kmet said he would have chosen a No. 76 Steve McMichael jersey.
“Seeing the Steve McMichael stuff (during a visit to the Hall) was really cool for me,” he said. “That was my dad’s favorite player growing up. So it was cool to kind of see all that go down and see his jersey in the Hall. When he talks about McMichael it’s always about … I guess (Dan) Hampton was the good-looking guy and the sacks and obviously Richard Dent had all the sacks, him and Hampton. But McMichael was just kind of the lunch-pail guy in the middle, a grinder that brought a ton of attitude and he always was drawn to that.”
McMichael, Peppers and Devin Hester were inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday.
Photos: Chicago Bears greats during Pro Football Hall of Fame weekend
Seen and heard
Eberflus talked up offensive lineman Bill Murray at the start of the week, and there he was running with the first team Saturday at right guard. The Bears want Ryan Bates and Coleman Shelton to compete for the starting job, but with Davis sidelined all week, Bates has filled in at right guard and Shelton has taken the center snaps with the ones. This got Bates back in position to play center while looking at Murray.
“He was really good,” Eberflus said of the 27 snaps Murray played Thursday. “Real aggressive. I thought his zone game, jumping to the second level was outstanding. I think his pass sets need to improve a little bit with what he did there. But overall we were pleased with him.”
Matt Pryor filled in for Darnell Wright at right tackle and looks like a very good bet to make the 53-man roster with the ability to play tackle and guard.
Eberflus said the team is going to manufacture one-on-one and two-on-two situations in the week ahead to test players who have been running on the second or third teams. Coaches want to challenge players to see if they can rise up — which could involve Murray, who has shown well since camp opened.
Tyson Bagent got all of the No. 2 reps during practice. He dropped a really nice ball into the corner of the end zone for Nsimba Webster on a fade route, just beyond the reach of cornerback Leon Jones. Jones was back at practice and even saw a little work in the backfield. Tory Taylor had consecutive punts in team action go out of bounds at the 8-yard line.
Injury report
Linebacker Noah Sewell and running back Ian Wheeler were held out of practice. Running back Travis Homer was involved in only part of practice. Rookie offensive lineman Theo Benedet did not practice.
