BOURBONNAIS — The four most interesting things said by Bears’ offensive position coaches after Monday’s practice:
Is Mitch picking the right club?
Mitch Trubisky’s training camp has been parsed from all angles — and for good reason. The Bears’ monster defense has gotten the better of him almost every day.
Bears’ coaches remain confident in him, and are encouraged by the thought process behind his decisions — if not always the result of each throw. Quarterbacks coach Dave Ragone used a golf analogy to discuss his deep passes.
“Does he pick the right club? … Does he put enough air under it, or is it too flat?” Ragone said. “That’s innate things. You have to be able to process that within three seconds to know which type of ball to put out there.
“That’s constantly the conversation: ‘Hey, what do you think about that club selection? Is it too much air? Too flat?’ … or, ‘Hey, you didn’t like that route? Tell the guy.’”
Trubisky has worked on fundamentals to improve his precision, and, his coach said, needs “constant repetition” with his receivers to master deep passes. He’s not there yet, though Ragone said Trubisky is giving him the proper feedback.
“It’s a constantly evolving thing for us,” Ragone said. “In my own opinion, there’s no worry of deep-ball accuracy.”
David Montgomery is a hit
The best moment of Friday’s practice came when rookie running back David Montgomery lowered his shoulder into two defenders in a row — Doyin Jibowu and John Franklin III — before finally being gang-tackled.
“He’s a tough out,” running backs coach Charles London said. “He’s tough to bring down, he’s tough to tackle. It’s great to see his contact balance.”
London was impressed with his situational awareness in the four-minute drill. The rest of the offense simply liked his physicality.
Trubisky was so excited, he raced to the pile to pick him up.
“It really got everybody going,” London said. “That was the thing that I liked: that everybody else liked it. The running backs, receivers, you got everybody in it. Even Mitch was in there, trying to pick him up off the pile.”
It’s not often — especially in camp — that the offense gets to do the hitting.
“A lot of times it’s, ‘Be hit, be hit, be hit,’” London said. “I tell them a lot of times, ‘You have to be the hammer instead of the nail.’ If you got a chance to take a shot, take a shot.”
Montgomery was lauded for his ability to run around — and through — tacklers at Iowa State. He averaged 3.48 yards after contact, per Pro Football Focus. The Bears won’t see those skills on display until preseason games, the first of which kicks off Thursday against the Panthers.
“I think what we saw on tape in college — so far, he’s translated to this level of ball,” London said.
The clock is ticking for Adam Shaheen
Offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich was asked last week what tight end Adam Shaheen brings to the team, health permitting.
“Man, that’s a big condition there,” he said.
The former second-round pick missed 10 games last year because of a grisly right foot and ankle injury suffered during the preseason. He has only 17 catches in two years.
A sore back has limited him for most of training camp, though he practiced Monday.
Trey Burton’s absence — he missed his third-straight practice Monday as he recovers from offseason groin surgery — has only increased the concern about the Bears’ tight end depth.
Monday, tight ends coach Kevin Gilbride shared the same sentiment as Helfrich — the Bears need Shaheen upright.
“Health — that’s really it,” he said. “We need to get him prepared for the season physically, and in so, he still needs to get his reps here. Because that’s what prepares him. He’s not necessarily a guy who can just come right off the sideline and perform at the level he can perform at. We have to get him some reps to get him ready to go.”
A big Year 2 for WRs
Two receivers entering their second seasons have stepped up: Taylor Gabriel and Anthony Miller.
Gabriel is emerging as a leader. Receivers coach Mike Furrey chuckled when, earlier in camp, he overheard Gabriel urging teammates to get after it in practice.
“I was sitting here thinking, ‘Hey, I tried to tell you that every time last year when you were coming out here,’” Furrey said. “Taylor understands his role now of being that leader that needs to be a great performer in our room. It’s really neat.
“When he first came here, he got a pretty good contract and he was gonna be our No. 2 ... At first it was kinda like, ‘I don’t have to run. I’m fast already.’ No, no, no. You need to prove that every day.
“This year, it’s awesome.”
Miller’s progress has come from a getting a more thorough handle on the playbook.
“Last year was just go-go-gadget, and I just held my breath hoping that he was gonna go to the right place,” Furrey said. “So it was learning what we do, how to do and learning to back things off a little bit. He’s come in now and understands what we’re doing. Now I believe everything’s gonna get better and better for him.”
Jason Lieser contributed to this report.
