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Good morning, Bears fans! There’s a football game today!
The Bears are kicking off the preseason against the Chiefs today at Soldier Field, which will mark Matt Eberflus’ first NFL game as a head coach — even if it is preseason.
For Eberflus, he’s not getting caught up in the fact that it’ll be his first time coaching his team. Instead, he’s focused on the task at hand.
“The first thing to come to mind right there is that you don’t look at the past,” Eberflus said. “You’ve got to focus on the future and what’s ahead of you right now. The way we look at it is that you have to have a telescope view as the head coach: where we’re going to get to. And then you have to have a microscopic view of what we’re doing day-to-day.
“I’m just focusing on having a good game-day operation, working on the scheme, evaluating the personnel for the first game… That’s the way you function best; you’ve got to be in the moment. You’ve got to be right here, right now.”
Eberflus will get his first real test when it comes to managing in-game scenarios, and he’s feeling confident.
“That’s everything,” he said. “Those decisions that we make in the last two minutes of the half, last two minutes of the game, going for it on fourth down, all of those situations that are my call a lot of times are really a big job to have.”
Eberflus wanted to make sure he was prepared for different game situations, which is why he spent the offseason working with director of research and analysis Harrison Freid this offseason.
“We must have had 20 sessions talking about end of game, when to throw the challenge flag, when not to, all scenarios that deal with two-minute, end of half, end of game, all of those situations,” Eberflus said.
“And we’ve had the officials here. We’ve used those guys as resources, as educators in terms of the rules. The two-minute application, how they spot the ball, where should we be to get the ball back into play as fast as possible.
“I feel very prepared for that and I’m excited to go through it for the first time with our staff.”
The Bears kick off the preseason against the Chiefs, and there are a number of players we’ll be keeping an eye on. There are a number of roster bubble players who are looking to make strong impressions in the preseason opener. The Roquan Smith drama keeps getting weirder.
Considering questions about the Bears offensive line, it’s quite stunning that they’re ranked among the best in the NFL by the folks at ESPN. Chicago’s roster has undergone some changes from the beginning of the training camp to the preseason opener. Here’s a look at the Bears’ updated 90-man roster.
Rookie standout Romeo Doubs scores the Packers’ first touchdown of the preseason. READ MORE ON PACKERS WIRE.
Kirk Cousins ruled out for preseason opener after testing positive for COVID-19. READ MORE ON VIKINGS WIRE.
Lions lost back-and-forth preseason opener to Falcons. READ MORE ON LIONS WIRE.
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