The Sun-Times’ Jason Lieser breaks down the Bears’ Sunday practice, the third of 2019 training camp:
It was finally time for full pads and full contact at Bears training camp, and that sparked their defense.
Safety Eddie Jackson got beat by Javon Wims in a one-on-one, then snapped back by intercepting a deep ball from Mitch Trubisky during team drills.
“We told ourselves we gotta get in our groove,” Jackson said. “Especially as DBs, it takes a while to knock the rust off in one-on-ones.”
Jackson’s pick seemed to flip a switch. One play later, cornerback Prince Amukamara wrecked a swing pass by dropping Marvin Hall as soon as he caught it and knocked the ball loose.
Offense flounders
The defense’s fun came at the expense of Trubisky and the offense, and coach Matt Nagy walked off the field feeling, “just OK” about how his side of the ball played.
As far as Trubisky’s pick, he liked the aggressive decision, but thought it was a poor throw.
“Trust me, Mitch has that next-play mentality,” Nagy said. “He’s going to work hard at rebounding back from those types of plays.”
Handling heat
Nagy has been thoroughly pleased with how his players reported to camp and even cut short the conditioning test when they arrived because they were flying through it so easily.
The Bears proved how prepared they were Sunday morning, when the temperature rose to the upper 80s after two temperate days to start camp.
“You’re gonna see which guys are really conditioned and see how much we want it,” Jackson said. “Coach Nagy is testing our limits, and I feel like everyone is passing that test.”
