The Bears’ preseason game Saturday will lack star power — neither they nor the Colts are playing their starters. Near the top of the list of players to watch, then, will be the Bears’ fourth-round pick, receiver Riley Riley.
“With Riley, he’s done a really good job of digesting everything,” Bears coach Matt Nagy said after Thursday’s practice. “He knows what he’s doing. He has a great feel. When teams play zone coverage, he has a good feel of that. He has excellent ball skills, so that’s just showing up.”
Ridley played 47 percent of the Bears’ offensive plays last week against the Giants, catching three passes for 19 yards. It marked his first NFL game of any kind; he sat out the opener after hurting his hamstring in training camp.
“It was a bummer, him getting banged up a little bit there,” Nagy said. “I think he’s back on track. I’m excited to see what he can do.”
Hicks fine; Miller close?
Defensive lineman Akiem Hicks returned to practice Thursday after sitting out Wednesday’s with what Nagy called a minor oblique injury. He described Hicks’ absence as precautionary.
Nagy wouldn’t rule out receiver Anthony Miller, who is still recovering from a sprained ankle, returning to practice next week.
”We’re not going to rush anything but … I’m not concerned about him,” he said. “The biggest thing with Anthony is going to be just making sure that we as coaches don’t overload him with what he does.”
Outside linebacker Aaron Lynch (shoulder) and tackle Rashaad Coward (elbow) remained out.
