The Chicago Bears kicked off their second week of training camp with a non-padded practice on Friday, and the team is slated to play its first preseason game in just under a week.
While the addition of defensive end Yannick Ngakoue was the big news out of Halas Hall today, there were several of his new teammates who made a strong impression during Friday’s slower, non-padded practice.
Let’s take a look at the six players who stood out during the eighth practice of training camp.
1
WR Chase Claypool
Touchdowns, touchdowns, and more touchdowns. Wide receiver Chase Claypool has been the second-biggest star of camp, working in tandem with the actual star of camp quarterback Justin Fields. Claypool’s consistency through the last week proves that he’s ready to put the second half of the 2022 season behind him and become a major contributor on offense. Claypool has been a scoring machine in camp, tallying a few more in today’s practice.
Justin Fields connects with Chase Claypool in the red zone for a TD. Another tough catch over the middle in traffic for Claypool. He’s done that a few times in camp.
— Sean Hammond (@sean_hammond) August 4, 2023
A funny situation occurred near the end of today’s practice, where a ball intended for Claypool bounced high into the air and tight end Robert Tonyan ended up coming down with it. The following play, however, Tonyan was the one to have a pass bounce off his hands and Claypool was the one to make the catch.
#Bears starting offense with some fortuitous bounces and tips in 2-minute drill near end of practice.
– A bad drop by Chase Claypool popped into the air and right to Robert Tonyan
– On the following play, a high pass for Tonyan was tipped directly to Claypool.
— Brad Biggs (@BradBiggs) August 4, 2023
The football gods work in mysterious ways.
2
QB Justin Fields
Justin Fields rebounded from a shaky practice on Wednesday with a much more solid outing today. QB1 threw an early interception to cornerback Josh Blackwell in a two-minute drill, but Fields composed himself for a second crack at it, driving passes downfield to DJ Moore, Robert Tonyan and Chase Claypool to set up a “game-winning” field goal.
Put in a go-win-the-game situation, Justin Fields was intercepted by Josh Blackwell on his first throw.
On his second opportunity in the drill, Fields drove the ball from the 50 to the 22 with passes to Moore, Tonyan and Claypool.
Cairo Santos made the FG from 42 for the win.
— Adam Jahns (@adamjahns) August 4, 2023
The intensity was set to a simmer instead of boil on day eight, but Fields continued to demonstrate his growth as a passer.
3
DT Gervon Dexter
The signing of defensive end Yannick Ngakoue is no doubt a huge upgrade to a mostly barren defensive front, but the Bears will still need the other guys on the defensive line to come into their own as productive players. Rookie defensive tackle Gervon Dexter is well on his way to doing that, as he again stood out to the fans in the stands.
Again, no pads, but like what I’ve seen from rookie DT Gervon Dexter. Quick and powerful off the line.
Would have had an easy sack of Fields in the last period https://t.co/K2aN8kiwH7
— Matt Verderame (@MattVerderame) August 4, 2023
The defensive tackle’s speed and tenacity is getting noticed and praised more often by the fans and media, which most likely means he’s beginning to separate himself from the rest of the defensive line group. Dexter can definitely see a lot of playing time as a rookie due to the state of the position; he just needs to continue to perform at a high level in camp.
4
WR Tyler Scott
From a standout rookie on defense to one on offense, Tyler Scott continued to be the diamond in the rough for the wide receiver group. Scott’s potent skillset was on display on the eighth day of camp, leaving various Bears defensive backs left scrambling to cover the pass-catcher.
Tyler Scott continues to dust various corners with sharp double moves creating all kinds of space.
— Mark Carman (@thecarm) August 4, 2023
It also comes as a pleasant surprise that Scott has developed a solid rapport with Justin Fields as QB1 continues to rely on him in the team’s two-minute drill.
Back to back catches from Tyler Scott in the 2 minute drill 11 on 11s.
Scott is unable to get out of bounds on the 2nd catch and they rush to the line and clock it
FG unit coming out and it's good.
— Greg Braggs Jr. (@GBraggsJr23) August 4, 2023
Scott’s play may propel the receiver into a decent role on the offense come the regular season.
5
RB D'Onta Foreman
The running back Ferris wheel continues to turn, as the trio of Khalil Herbert, Foreman and rookie Roschon Johnson all are vying to receive the majority of carries in the regular season. Though it’s hard to discern a running back’s performance with no pads on, it’s evident that Foreman won the day. It was actually his ability to catch rather than run that made him stand out today, something he isn’t particularly known for.
I thought D'Onta Foreman was pretty smooth coming out of the backfield and catching passes today. That's a positive sign for a guy with a grand total of 31 targets/23 receptions through his first five seasons.
— Brad Biggs (@BradBiggs) August 4, 2023
Foreman had a breakout season with the Panthers last year, stepping in for Christian McCaffrey after he was traded to the 49ers. Foreman is more than qualified to potentially take the lion’s (Bear?) share of the workload if the coaches decide on that.
6
S Jaquan Brisker
Jaquan Brisker has been making his presence known during training camp, even during slower, non-padded practices, like on Friday. Brisker made back-to-back plays during the 11-on-11 period, which included blowing up a play for what would’ve been a sack on Justin Fields. One play later, Brisker blew up a run play. He just always seems to be around the ball.
Jaquan Brisker just blew up the first pass play in 11 on 11s with a sack.
Sidelines were fired up about along with Kyler, who came up to him.
As I'm tweeting this, Brisker blows up the very next run play knifing through the blocking on the right side.
— Greg Braggs Jr. (@GBraggsJr23) August 4, 2023
Brisker’s running mate, Eddie Jackson, had nothing but praise for Brisker, who he noted is miles ahead where he was at this point last summer.
“Oh man, he has made a huge leap,” Jackson said. “He is having a great camp so far.”
