Pre-Season Notes – Chicago Bears – Game 1
Last year I made it a tradition for me to watch the Chicago Bears Pre-Season games in their entirety, compile notes – note standouts and specific performances. I’m not too certain, though, whether I’ve ever released those notes. This year I am releasing them, though, and it all began yesterday when the Philadelphia Eagles took on my Chicago Bears at Soldier Field for the opening Pre-Season Game.
For this year’s Pre-Season I’ve chosen to keep an eye on the following list of players; and each player will score points based on his performances each week:
- #25 – Running Back – Ka’Deem Carey – Rookie.
- #12 – Quarterback – David Fales – Rookie.
- #95 – Defensive Tackle – Ego Ferguson – Rookie.
- #45 – Safety – Brock Vereen – Rookie.
- #93 – Defensive Tackle – Will Sutton – Rookie.
- #23 – Cornerback – Kyle Fuller – Rookie.
- #16 – Punter/Holder – Pat O’Donnell – Rookie.
- #36 – Running Back/Quarterback – Jordan Lynch – Rookie.
- #57 – Linebacker – Jon Bostic – Second Year.
- #50 – Linebacker/Defensive End – Shea McClellin – Third Year.
Before rating these specific performances of note, I’ve compiled a list of standouts from the game – which cannot include the players above. In a game where very few Special Team highlights for the Bears were noted, I’ve decided to gloss over that section – and in stead, first look at the defensive standouts. Safety Ryan Mundy and cornerback Sherrick McManis both picked off Nick Foles, and are obvious standouts defensively. Second year Linebacker Khaseem Greene outplayed every 2nd & 3rd string linebacker in the game, and hopefully he can continue to get better – and maybe even battle for a spot with the 1st string. Undrafted rookie cornerback Al Louis-Jean also managed to get a pick, and showed solid movement on the interception itself. Jeremy ‘Jay’ Ratliff also performed well in the game, provided good pressure. My premier defensive standout, however, was defensive end Trevor Scott. He showed an ability to pressure the Quarterback, and was solid on all the snaps he played.
Offensively we have a lot of people to note as well, first and foremost we have our Franchise Quarterback – Jay Cutler. After a poor opening drive, he came back on his second and final – and led his team back in the redzone, and then to the endzone. Cutler managed to find Alshon Jeffery, Brandon Marshall, Dante Rosario and Zach Miller – the latter two being premier offensive standouts. Look out Martellus Bennett. I also have two standouts for the 3rd stringers. First and foremost, former CFL Wide Receiver and Punt Returner Chris Williams performed well, and even had a 70+ yards Touchdown to cap off his night. Finally, I must congratulate 3rd string Quarterback Jimmy Clausen – he’s managed to perform at a level that exceeded that of 2nd stringer Jordan Palmer.
Now we move on to the specific ratings.
- #25 – Ka’Deem Carey: 2+ points, 1- point; Average Performance; Game 1 Score: 1 point.
- #12 – David Fales: 1+ point, 2- points; Below Average Performance; Game 1 Score: Negative 1 point.
- #95 – Ego Ferguson: 3+ points, 2- points; Average Performance; Game 1 Score: 1 point.
- #45 – Brock Vereen: 2+ points, 2-points; Average Performance; Game 1 Score: 0 points.
- #93 – Will Sutton: 1+ point, 1- point; Average Performance; Game 1 Score: o points.
- #23 – Kyle Fuller: 4+ points, 0- points; Above Average Performance; Game 1 Score: 4 points.
- #16 – Pat O’Donnell: 1+ point, 1- point; Below Average Performance; Game 1 Score: 0 points.
- #36 – Jordan Lynch: 3+ points, 1- point; Above Average Performance; Game 1 Score: 2 points.
- #57 – Jon Bostic: 0+ points, 4- points; Below Average Performance; Game 1 Score: Negative 4 points.
- #50 – Shea McClellin: 1+ point, 5- points; Below Average Performance; Game 1 Score: Negative 4 points.
Rookie of the Game: Kyle Fuller, Cornerback.
Player of the Game: Zach Miller, Tight End.
Pre-Season Notes – Chicago Bears – Game 2
In continuing with the tradition mentioned last week, today I will give out scores for specific performances and note standouts. Yesterday the Bears hosted a Pre-Season game against the Jacksonville Jaguars [which resulted in a 20-19 Bears win] – and that’s the focus of today’s post. First of all, here are the scores for the specific players I’m watching this year [note the overall score for the player in brackets].
- #25 – Ka’Deem Carey: 3+ points, 2- points; Average Performance – [2 points].
- #12 – David Fales: No Participation – [-1 point].
- #95 – Ego Ferguson: 0+ points, 1- point; Below Average Performance – [0 points].
- #45 – Brock Vereen: 1+ point, 1- point; Average Performance – [0 points].
- #93 – Will Sutton: 0+ points, 1- point; Below Average Performance – [0 points].
- #23 – Kyle Fuller: Early Injury, no notes – [4 points].
- #16 – Pat O’Donnell: 3+ points, 0- points; Above Average Performance – [3 points].
- #36 – Jordan Lynch: No Participation notes – [2 points].
- #57 – Jon Bostic: 2+ points, 0- points; Above Average Performance – [-2 points].
- #50 – Shea McClellin: 1+ point, 0- point; Average Performance – [-4 points].
Moving on now to standouts. Onca again our Special Teams performed poorly, and actually I only saw Pat O’Donnell as a positive experience. Offensively, though, we saw some nice things on the field. Jay Cutler, and his O-Line, was amazing – and he felt so comfortable. Honestly, if he performs like this in the regular season, we’ll have a great season. As for the 2nd and 3rd strings? Well, I soured somewhat on Jimmy Clausen – but not due to him performing badly; actually, Jordan Palmer was just that good. Defensively, I loved what I saw from Stephen Paea and ‘Peanut’. For the second week in a row, I loved what I saw from Trevor Scott – he’s a lock for the 53 man squad. Finally, the interception from C.J. Wilson needs to be noticed. Nice job, young man.
Rookie of the Game: Pat O’Donnell, Punter.
Player of the Game: Jordan Palmer, Quarterback.
Pre-Season Notes – Chicago Bears – Game 3
Well, that didn’t go according to plan. In what was supposed to be a game about new beginnings, the Bears did little to fix their defensive reputation from last season. In fairness, though, these were the World Champions. Friday the Bears dropped to 2-1 in their Pre-Season schedule – which really isn’t all that important. Today, I’ve decided that the result itself did not warrant standouts to be mentioned. Firstly, there weren’t many – secondly, we had no chance to make anything standout really. David Fales, Jordan Lynch and Kyle Fuller did not appear, and their respective overall scores of -1, +2 & +4 do not change. The less said about this game, the better – so let’s get the scores out and over with.
- #25 – Ka’Deem Carey: 2+ points, 1- point; Average Performance – [3 points].
- #95 – Ego Ferguson: 1+ points, 1- point; Average Performance – [0 points].
- #45 – Brock Vereen: 0+ point, 1- point; Below Average Performance – [-1 point].
- #93 – Will Sutton: 1+ points, 1- point; Average Performance – [0 points].
- #16 – Pat O’Donnell: 1+ points, 1- point; Average Performance – [3 points].
- #57 – Jon Bostic: 2+ points, 1- points; Average Performance – [-1 point].
- #50 – Shea McClellin: 1+ point, 1- point; Average Performance – [-4 points].
Rookie of the Game: Pat O’Donnell
Player of the Game: Willie Young
Pre-Season Notes – Chicago Bears – Final Notes
Just a few days ago, the Chicago Bears concluded their Pre-Season with a loss to the Cleveland Browns – who were fielding starters against the 3rd string Bears. The Bears dropped to 2-2 overall, but who cares about the Pre-Season record? No one, exactly. Today I’ll hand out the final standout notes, for the game against the Browns – note the final scores for the players I’ve followed – and, give out awards for the best rookie of the Bears Pre-Season, and the best overall player of the Bears Pre-Season.
I wrote down a few standouts, and even crossed out the name of one (Demontre Hurst). Defensively, I liked what I saw from defensive end David Bass, and cornerback C.J. Wilson. The former made it to the team, and the latter did not even make it to the Practice Squad. Good luck young man. Offensively, I loved what I saw from Santonio Holmes, Shaun Draughn and Josh Bellamy. Santonio and Shaun both made it to the 53-man roster, and Josh made it to the Practice Squad. Below are the final overall scores for the players I’ve followed.
- #25 – Ka’Deem Carey: 3 pts.
- #12 – David Fales: 1 pt.
- #36 – Jordan Lynch: 2 pts.
- #23 – Kyle Fuller: 4 pts.
- #95 – Ego Ferguson: 0 pts.
- #45 – Brock Vereen: -1 pt.
- #93 – Will Sutton: 0 pts.
- #16 – Pat O’Donnell: 3 pts.
- #57 – Jon Bostic: -1 pt.
- #50 – Shea McClellin: -4 pts.
Overall Player of the Pre-Season: David Bass, #91, Defensive End.
Overall Rookie of the Pre-Season: Kyle Fuller, #23, Cornerback.
I'm Jeffrey Rex 