4 free agents the Chicago Bears should entertain
The Chicago Bears have had their ups and downs already this season. With a 1-1 record, and a tough loss to the Green Bay Packers, there isn’t any reason to panic. No one expected this team to be great this year. In fact, most national media outlets had them winning three or fewer games this season. Funny enough, the team has already won 1/3 of that predicted win total and there is still 88 percent of the season left to play. The chances of them going 1-14 over is pretty slim.
What we do want to see is more out of Justin Fields. Fields struggled in the game vs. the Packers in Week 2. He only threw 11 passes, but if you count his actual dropbacks it would have been 18 pass attempts. That’s still not enough attempts in my opinion, but Fields also left plays on the field. He had a sack toward the beginning of the game where he held onto the ball too long after correctly stepping up into the pocket. He fumbled on that play despite having two outlets to throw to in Cole Kmet and David Montgomery. This isn’t the only example.
Too often, Fields wasn’t trusting that his receiver was open in this game. He needs to anticipate his receivers to be open and firing off the football. We need to start seeing what we saw in the preseason game vs. the Browns on a consistent basis. If Fields struggles again vs. Houston in Week 3, then we might need to start worrying about his future a little more. Luckily, I have faith that Fields will bounce back in a big way this week and despite my confidence wavering a little, I still project them to win this game.
In the meantime, the Chicago Bears should consider bringing in a few free agents for a visit to see if they can help this team out in any way — even if just for their experience.
The Chicago Bears should consider bringing in cornerback Janoris Jenkins
We are seeing two young players struggle a bit on defense in Kyler Gordon and Jaquan Brisker, but Gordon has been the worst of the two. The cornerback depth chart is full of younger players and Jaylon Johnson has already started to prove himself as a lockdown corner while the hope is Gordon can be a playmaker. Unfortunately, through two games, Gordon has allowed 15 of 20 targets to be completed for 210 yards and a touchdown. Quarterbacks are enjoying a 125 QB rating while throwing in his direction.
The Chicago Bears might want to call on Janoris “Jackrabbit” Jenkins to see if he can add some valuable experience to the Bears cornerback room. Jenkins is a 10-year veteran who has clearly declined over the years, but when you have the likes of Kindle Vildor, Lamar Jackson and Jaylon Jones as your cornerback depth, Jenkins might be worth a look as a one-year rental option.
Matt Eberflus could use someone with Jenkins’ experience, even if it’s just to help bring along his younger players. Jenkins wouldn’t be relied upon as a starter by any means. He could help in a rotation and although he’s 33, he still started 13 games for the Titans last year allowing only 61.1 percent of his targets to be completed. In 2019 and 2020, he kept his opponents under a 55 percent completion percentage and has nine interceptions over that three-year span.