Chicago Bears News: Rookie Safety Earns Starting Nod and More

By Derek Hanfland | Aug 19, 2015

We’re human here at Bear Goggles On, and if that comes as a shock to you then look no further than the absence yesterday of this staple of AM Chicago Bears news. The dog days are here for all of us, it would seem. The reason why we didn’t run Bear Dawn on Tuesday? I’ll blame the combination of summer heat and weary minds over the Kevin White drama.

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At any rate, we’re back at it today. Freshen up that morning breath and meet the Bear Dawn.

We have an official depth chart shake-up to talk about; rookie safety Adrian Amos is running with the ones. This has been brewing since Brock Vereen did his best Chris Conte impersonation this past Thursday against the Dolphins, and we touched on it in the last two editions of Bear Dawn. Pro Football Talk reported on the change earlier today.

Within the post, Head Coach John Fox’s take on Amos’ progression is cited.

"“We thought enough of Amos to draft him,” head coach John Fox said on Sunday, via ESPN.com. “I think he’s had opportunities just like all the other safeties to play and be evaluated and make plays. He’s earned where he is. I don’t know if that’s the way it’ll stay. It’s not where you start the race it’s where you finish it. He’s earned that and we’ll go from there.”"

If when we get to the end of this season the biggest story from the defensive side of the ball is the emergence of a young playmaker at safety, then SIGN ME UP. It’s entirely too early to reasonably speculate what Amos will become, but it is exciting that a rookie is getting a chance. He’ll be the player I watch closest in Saturday’s game against the Colts.

Next up, an injury update on Alshon Jeffery from ESPN’s Jeff Dickerson. After how it went down with White, I immediately became skeptical about the severity of Jeffery’s ailment. Seemingly every other person who covers the Bears had a similar reaction, and my hope is that Pace has taken some sort of lesson from all that.

JD included Pace’s message to the media about Jeffery, an obvious attempt to create a clear separation between what happened with White and what is going on with Jeffery.

"“He has a mild calf strain. He’s not going to participate versus Indianapolis. But this isn’t a long-term injury with Alshon,” Pace said. “We don’t anticipate that [he’ll] miss the Green Bay game.”"

You can just hear the groans among Chicago media types, can’t you? No surprise that Alshon won’t be participating in the practice-and-preseason game combo with the Colts. All the better. Let him rest, get him right for Green Bay. Pace would be best-suited to duck, however, if he says the Bears #1 receiver will be ready for the Pack and it turns out he’s not.

Speaking of the wide receivers, specifically regarding the current absence of the incumbent number one and the highly touted rookie, Bob LeGere of the Daily Herald comments on how the next game is critical for the rest of the Bears receivers.

I’m still waiting for Marquess Wilson to show me something. It’s only the preseason, so no huge concern yet, but now is as good of time as any for him to show the Bears they’ll be fine despite the White injury setback. We’ll also see if Josh Bellamy and Cameron Meredith can build on decent performances in the preseason opener.

Dickerson makes another appearance on this news run down with his recent Q&A with Bears running back, Matt Forte. “All I can do is play football” is the big quote from the eighth-year player out of Tulane.

Aug 13, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bears running back

Matt Forte

(22) warms up prior to a preseason NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

JD asks him how he thinks Cutler will fare this year, how his body is holding up despite his workload over the last several years and of course, about his contract status. No surprise that Forte’s comments are all stand-up in nature. He strikes me as the type of physical specimen who can overcome the stereotype of diminished productivity by running backs after the age of 30.

Forte hits the magic number late this season (December 10th), and if he has a strong performance in 2015 it will be interesting to see what Pace and the Bears do. I like Forte a lot and hope he stays, but the money has to be right. Business is business.

As I mentioned earlier, the Bears are headed to Indianapolis where they’ll be involved in intra-squad “workouts” with the Colts on Wednesday and Thursday in advance of Saturday’s preseason tilt. Bears Senior Writer Larry Meyer reports on the details.

An interesting piece I stumbled upon while perusing the interwebs was this NFL Power Rankings post by Chuck Mills of Baltimore Beatdown. Certainly not someone feeling the effects of Chicago Bear Kool-Aid, Mills has the Bears at #26 in his rankings. The predictions he includes are interesting and my guess is that most of our readers will disagree.

Aug 13, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bears guard

Kyle Long

(75) warms up prior to a preseason NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

Keeping on the SB Nation train, the next stop is at Windy City Gridiron where Lester Wiltfong Jr grades out the performance of the Bears starting offensive line against the Dolphins. To recite what has become my mantra these days, it is only the preseason, but these seem to be valid observations. By in large, Wiltfong graded out the starting five pretty well.

The final stop on this morning’s news cycle will be at Bleacher Report, whose Matt Eurich put together a slide show on the Chicago Bears hardest remaining roster cuts. To give you a general idea, these aren’t the guys at the bottom of the roster we’re talking about.

These are players that have either performed well at one time, were drafted with expectations as of yet unfulfilled and/or have seemingly shown well so far this preseason. It’s an intriguing list with the two most notable names being Willie Young and Ka’Deem Carey.

Young’s appearance on the list doesn’t come as a huge surprise, considering there has been some noise out of Bears camp pointing to him not being a great 3-4 fit. Carey isn’t shocking either on the surface, but he has looked decent so far this preseason. For that reason I’m not so sure yet, even with the drafting of Langford.

That’s it for now, Bears fans. Enjoy your Wednesday and, if all else fails, BEAR DOWN.

Next: BGO Profiles Rookie Safety, Adrian Amos

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