Chicago Bears Week 14: Rookie Report

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DT Brandon Dunn – After holding his own in his first NFL action in week 13, Dunn got 17 snaps in relief of Ego Ferguson. This is sad, but Dunn was actually the Bears highest graded defensive player by PFF (.9). Dunn joined the Bears as an undrafted free agent this year, but Bears assistant D-line coach Clint Hurtt coached Dunn at Louisville last year so the team is familiar with him. Dunn has outplayed Ferguson the last two weeks and it will be interesting to see who gets more snaps between the two the rest of the way.

OLB Christian Jones – For some reason Jones only got 23 snaps (34%) during the blow-out loss despite being one of the best defensive players on the field for the Bears. Jones did a good job covering DeMarco Murray out of the backfield and was all over the place in run support. Despite his lack of playing time, Jones managed to rack up 6 tackles and finished the game with the highest pass coverage grade and 2nd highest grade overall defensive grade (.7) from Pro Football Focus. If Jones isn’t one of the Bears starting OLBs the rest of the season, then the coaching staff is making yet another mistake.

RB Senorise Perry – He’s been the Bears best kick / punt coverage guy for most of the season, but Perry struggled on Thursday. He missed a tackle, was called for a penalty, and just wasn’t as aggressive as he normally is on kick coverage.

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G Ryan Groy – Made his NFL debut on Thursday, replacing the ineffective Michael Ola, and held his own. Here is my scouting report on Groy from earlier this season. Like most former Wisconsin Badgers, Groy is a mauling run blocker who needs to improve his pass protection technique. The Bears gave Groy the highest signing bonus off all their undrafted free agents, so clearly they were high on him coming into the season, but he has spent all year on the practice squad until Thursday. Groy played 41 snaps and showed potential. He was on the field for 65% of the Bears pass plays and only gave up 1 QB hurry. It was  pretty solid debut for Groy and he should be the Bears starting LG next week.

T/G Charles Leno Jr – Got a few snaps (4) for the 2nd week in a row and didn’t embarrass himself. Hopefully we will see more of Leno the next few weeks.

CB Al Louis-Jean – Only played 2 snaps, but managed to get a pass interference call in his limited time.

LB DeDe Lattimore – Only played on special teams, but finished the game with the lowest special teams grade from PFF (-2) due to a penalty and a missed tackle. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Lattimore back on the practice squad next week.

TE Blake Annen – Like Groy, Annen made his NFL debut this week but didn’t come close to as many snaps. Annen did get on the field for 1 offensive snap, but mostly contributed on special teams. He finished the game with the Bears highest grade on special teams from PFF (1.5). Annen is a receiving TE with considerable upside, for more on Annen, click here.

Inactives

CB Terrance Mitchell