The return of Roquan Smith at Saturday’s practice almost totally overshadowed several Bears developments coming out of their last game.
For one there was a hand injury to safety Jaquan Brisker that kept him out of practices last week and could be a problem as the rookie tried to get back in time for the regular-season opener. The Tribune reported he had thumb surgery and could be gone into September, but the opener isn’t until September 11.
On the positive side for the Bears, however, was the Teven Jenkins story.
Is it possible to be comeback player of the year based on training camp?
And then there is the curious case of Larry Borom, destined apparently to back up veteran Riley Reiff but suddenly playing with starters against Seattle and again on Saturday at practice.
Jenkins remained with starters at Saturday’s practice, as well. The independent eye of Pro Football Focus had given Jenkins a spectacular 82.6 mark in its grading system for his play against Seattle and coach Matt Eberflus wasn’t disagreeing with the opinion.
“He did a good job in the game, he played a solid game,” Eberflus said. “You think about that for a second—coming there for a couple of days and then starting in there and on playing. We were impressed. He did a nice job. He did a nice job.
“Now he’s got to continue to grow at the position. Like everybody else on the team he’s got a lot to work on. But he had a good first outing in there.”
Jenkins’ rise as right guard has put veteran free agent acquisition Michael Schofield in with the backups and possibly even fighting for a roster spot. Because he has the ability to play tackle, as well, he could be a veteran swing player.
Either way, Eberflus isn’t conceding anything yet with practices to come this week and the game against Cleveland on Saturday.
“There’s a lot of things that can happen,” Eberflus said. “We’re changing combinations, adjusting combinations. As you have seen over the course of training camp, a lot of things have changed. A lot of adjustments going on.
“It’s about guys who can sustain the performance, can sustain execution, and then take that to the first week. So we’ll let that play out and we’ll see where it is.”
Eberflus views Jenkins as a player who has taken well to coach Chris Morgan’s techniques and has risen after he had an unspecified injury as camp started, was reportedly upset over his dilemma, then returned and was moved to a new position.
“Coach Morgan’s a really good coach,” Eberflus said. “That’s what we did. That’s our job. Our job is to develop everybody on the roster and make them rise as far as we can get them. That’s our job as coaches.”
The Borom story is similar, although he never had an injury or was reported as being a player of trade interest.
Borom started out at right tackle, moved to left tackle for camp and then was moved back to the right side when the Bears signed Riley Reiff. Then when Reiff seemed to take Borom’s right tackle spot during the rise of rookie left tackle Braxton Jones Jr. two starts. Borom got the chance to play with starters ahead of Reiff and so far has done what the coaches asked.
In fact, Eberflus wouldn’t throw cold water on the idea of Borom being a starter over the veteran. Normally, Eberflus or Morgan have simply said they’re mixing players and looking at combinations, but he’s using the word starter for Borom.
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“He’s been consistent,” Eberflus said. “He’s been relatively consistent. He’s doing a good job in there. Right now, he’s in that position as a starter.
“He’s got competition behind him and we’ll see what happens and see if he can sustain that execution all the way through.”
Asked about Reiff now being a backup, Eberflus punted. That said it all.
“We’ll let that play out,” Eberflus said. “We’ll see where it is with him. We’re working through that with the offensive line.
“It’s been a lot of pieces to the puzzle. We will see where that goes.”
As for Brisker, Eberflus called it a case of waking up the day after the Aug. 13 Chiefs game with pain in a hand. By the opener he would have been out about four weeks, but with the severity of the injury largely unknown he couldn’t offer much on whether the timeline has the rookie returning.
“Well, we’re hopeful,” Eberflus said. ‘We’re hopeful that he’ll be back. We’ll find out here shortly, so we’re hopeful.”
Practice Highlights
Keith Traylor Born Again: The Bears had to close their final practice open to the general public because of rain all morning and the threat of more in the afternoon for practice, and when they did the fans were deprived of seeing the most exciting play of the entire camp.
Defensive tackle Khyiris Tonga dropped into coverage in a bit of trickery and disguise, picked off Justin Fields close to the 20-yard line at the numbers and cut to the outside, then was gone for the TD.
It wasn’t quite that simple. Tonga, of course, is the heaviest player on defense at 338 pounds.
To the longtime Bears beat reporters, it was the Keith Traylor play all over again, except Tonga made the end zone. Traylor had a pick against Jacksonville’s Mark Brunell and romped and stomped at 340 pounds for a 67-yard return during the regular-season finale when the Bears clinched the 2001 NFC Central title.
“That happens sometimes, yup,” Eberflus said. “And it has happened. Trust me. And I thought our guys did a good job blocking.
“So on those interceptions we turn those into a return like a punt return. So everybody has a job to do. So when you want to score on defense you have to have it orchestrated. So the guys did an outstanding job of orchestrating that return . And it was an instantaneous reaction. So there was no hesitation. Everybody went to their job. We all got blocks, stayed on our blocks and he returned it all the way.”
For his efforts, Tonga got mobbed in the end zone by defensive teammates and they dog-piled on top of him, creating a mountain of yelling players.
Lining Up: Returning to practice were a cluster of secondary players who have been out for varying portions of camp. In the case of safety Dane Cruikshank, it’s been rare when he’s been on the field since arriving in free agency. But he was back and got beat by Justin Fields in red zone scrimmaging for a TD pass at the back of the end zone to Cole Kmet. Cornerback Kindle Vildor and cornerback Duke Shelley were able to do individual work, but backup Jaylon Jones was still working with starters during the scrimmage. … Running back David Montgomery is back after missing time earlier in preseason but Trestan Ebner did not practice. … Linebacker Matthew Adams, who had a shoulder injury in Thursday’s game, was fine and practiced with starters as the weakside because Smith is ramping up and just doing individual work for now. … Sidelined but without an injury designation was defensive end Al-Quadin Muhammad. … Out still is wide receiver Tajae Sharpe after he missed the Seattle game. … There was no sign of Caleb Johnson, who went out with an ankle injury in the Seattle game. … Fullback Khari Blasingame had been on the bench late in the Seattle game with a big ice pack on his knee but it must have been a precautionary measure as he was practicing on Saturday. In fact, he was feeling well enough to catch a touchdown pass near the sideline from Justin Fields in the red zone scrimmage, beating Adams. … Defensive tackle Trevon Coley, who has three preseason sacks, got some reps at second-team defensive tackle after he had been third team.
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