Bears Preseason Week 2: Position Battles (Defense)

Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

Position: Strong-side OLB

Up: Jon Bostic -That’s more like the Jon Bostic we saw last year in the preseason. Playing against the starters in the first quarter, Bostic made the play off the game. On an outside run to Toby Gerhart, Bostic crashed the line of scrimmage, tossed last year’s #2 pick Luke Joeckel to the side, and then tackled Gerhart for a 3 yard loss. It was one of a few good plays for Bostic. He just missed the QB on a blitz up the middle, had 3 tackles in the first half, and played surprisingly well in coverage with a pass deflection and a nice stop on a screen pass. Bostic was playing MLB, which veteran D.J. Williams has pretty much locked down, but Bostic can force his way into the starting lineup at OLB if he keeps playing like he did Thursday.

Up: Shea McClellin – It wasn’t perfect, but there was definitely some improvement from McClellin compared to week 1. He was actually really solid against the run which has been a problem for Shea in the past. He had four tackles including 1 for a loss and another stop at the line of scrimmage on a 3rd and short. Of course Shea still looked lost in coverage, but this was his best game in a Bears uniform in a long time. He finished the day with a 1.3 overall grade (PFF).

Down: Khaseem Greene – Coming off one of his best games as a Bear in week 1, Greene really struggled against the Jags. Greene missed two tackles that I saw and was burned in coverage on a couple of short passes. Greene is a much better fit at weak-side OLB anyway, but the strong-side job is wide open and Greene was in the mix after his strong game vs the Eagles.

No Change: Christian Jones – I would like to see Jones get more than the 12 snaps he has averaged the last two weeks. He looks the part out there and has made a nice tackle in both games, but the fact that the Bears aren’t giving him snaps shows they don’t think he is ready to contribute much in the regular season.