Chicago Bears News: Training Camp Continues and More

Happy Monday Bears’ fans, and welcome to the latest edition of Bear Dawn, the latest Chicago Bears news and notes from around the web. Training camp continues to move along, as the Bears will prepare this week for their first preseason game.

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Before more specific news on the Bears, I would like to take a quick look back at the Hall of Fame festivities from this past weekend. There were no Bears inducted into the 2015 Hall of Fame class, but it was an extremely impressive and well-deserving bunch.

Junior Seau, Jerome Bettis, Charles Haley, Tim Brown, Will Shields, Mick Tingelhoff, Ron Wolf and Bill Polian were all inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame over the weekend. Each of these players and front office executives were top of the line in their fields throughout their era, combining for an impressive 2015 class.

Aug 8, 2015; Canton, OH, USA; Enshrinees Bill Polian and Sydney Seau (representing father Junior Seau), Jerome Bettis and Will Shields and Charles Haley and Mick Tingelhoff and Tim Brown and Ron Wolf pose with their busts during the 2015 Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

To cap off the weekend, the Minnesota Vikings and Pittsburgh Steelers met to kickoff the preseason with the Hall of Fame game. The Vikings ended up winning the game 14-3, but as is always true in the preseason, individual performances were most important. In an early preseason match-up, we are never going to see the starters too much, but there were some interesting performances to note.

Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater looked sharp on his only drive, completing five-of-six passes for 44 yards. Rookie tight end MyCole Pruitt also impressed, bringing in four receptions for 51 yards and one touchdown. Also, rookie WR Stefon Diggs had an electric 62-yard punt return. Vikings first round pick cornerback Trae Waynes had a rough night, already forcing some to question their selection.

Aug 9, 2015; Canton, OH, USA; Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Stefon Diggs (14) dives for the end zone during the third quarter against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

There is not much to note on the Steelers’ side, as their offensive stars sat this one out. Dri Archer looked good running the ball, and Landry Jones did not look good at quarterback. Second-year linebacker Ryan Shazier looked fast, tough and explosive, and he is a guy who I think is ready to soar into stardom on the defensive side of the ball. For more on the game, FanSided’s Matt Verderame looked at the top three takeaways.

Honestly, we probably did not learn much about either of these teams, but boy was it fun to see some football again!

Fortunately, we will not have to wait much longer to see the Bears in preseason action, as they host the Miami Dolphins this Thursday, August 13th. This will be our first look at the new-look Bears, and obviously that will be extremely interesting to see. Much more on this game as we move along through the week.

The Bears hosted a live scrimmage as part of the Family Fest festivities over the weekend. There were many highlights from the scrimmage which were noted by Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times.

Finley spotlights Jared Allen and Eddie Goldman as two players who shined the most in the scrimmage. Allen had a sack of Jimmy Clausen, and also batted one of his passes down, while Goldman continued to impress as he looks to nail down the Bears’ starting nose tackle position.

According to Finley, “The most impressive play came during seven-on-seven drills when Jay Cutler found Alshon Jeffery down the middle for a touchdown of about 40 yards.”

Jeff Dickerson of ESPN sat down with Bears’ outside linebacker Pernell McPhee for a quick Q&A session. McPhee pretty much says all of the right things in the interview with his complementary of the scheme catching my eye the most. “Guys aren’t going to know when I’m coming, or where I’m coming from,” McPhee told Dickerson.

There were a couple of pieces from Matt Eurich of Bleacher Report that caught my eye. First, his look at what we learned through the the first week of Bears’ training camp, and also his look at Bears’ outside linebacker Sam Acho, who I also believe will play a prominent role in the Bears’ new 3-4 defense.

The Madden NFL 16 player ratings are out for the NFC North, and as was probably to be expected, the Bears did not fare too well. Their 75 overall team rating ranks last in the division. The Green Bay Packers led the way with an impressive team rating of 90 overall, followed by the Detroit Lions with an 83 rating and the Vikings with a 77.

EA Sports went into a little bit of specifics with the player rating for each team. Here is what they had to say about the Bears:

"The Bears were a disaster in 2014, but new head coach John Fox could right the ship. Despite the loss of Brandon Marshall, QB Jay Cutler (79 OVR) has talented targets in TE Martellus Bennett (90 OVR), WR Alshon Jeffery (90 OVR) and rookie WR Kevin White (78 OVR). The versatile Matt Forte (90 OVR) also returns. New additions LOLB Pernell McPhee (87 OVR) and ROLB Jared Allen (79 OVR) should help improve a defense that ranked dead 30th in 2014. Keep an eye on second-year CB Kyle Fuller (78 OVR) and third-year MLB Jon Bostic (75 OVR)."

Last but not least, Fox Sports previewed the upcoming Bears’ season. There is plenty of interesting tidbits in the piece, although not anything that most of us have not heard before. For what it’s worth, their Alex Marvez predicted the Bears to finish with a 5-11 record.

Next: Five Bears Players to Watch in Training Camp

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