Chicago Bears running back Jacquizz Rodgers (No 35) carries the ball in the first-half against the Cincinnati Bengals in a preseason NFL game at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati. PICTURE: USA TODAY Sports
By David Haugh/Chicago Tribune
Last week in a discussion of injuries, Bears coach John Fox admitted he really had no idea what long term means.
The Bears seem intent on teaching Fox. More and more, this Halas Hall recovery looks like it fits the definition.
Fox might diagnose the situation as day to day but, based on Saturday’s exhibition game in Cincinnati, the Bears hardly resemble a team ready to show improvement from 2014, let alone challenge for an NFC playoff spot anytime soon.
After looking like a team on the verge of respectability against the Colts, the Bears regressed in a 21-10 defeat to the Bengals that represented the starters’ last chance to make an impression before the season opener. If the Bears’ road trip to Indy was promising, their sojourn to Cincy was just as perplexing.
Both starting units for the Bears made a statement: Help. An embarrassing effort against the Seahawks in the third exhibition game last year served as an omen for the ineptness that followed. Saturday’s lackluster performance against the Bengals looms as a similarly ominous precursor.
The offensive and defensive lines revealed no signs of progress. The secondary committed familiar crimes, only with different suspects. The linebackers played like a group still learning the position and the defense. The offense lacked explosiveness, the defense execution. Overall, the season lacks optimism.
Apologists will race to point out the Bears played without their top four wide receivers, including No. 1 playmaker Alshon Jeffery, because of injuries, but that excuse only masks the most alarming issue to emerge this preseason. Forget wide receiver; nothing offensively matters until the Bears solve their dilemma at both tackle positions.
At left tackle, veteran Jermon Bushrod can’t be healthy. At right tackle, the Bears can’t be serious if they expect to go into the season relying on Charles Leno, overmatched for the second straight start. But backups Jordan Mills and Michael Ola limit the line’s options. Had rookie center Hroniss Grasu developed more quickly, the Bears might have been able to address the problem by sliding Will Montgomery to guard and Kyle Long to tackle, but that hasn’t happened. A team that wants to run the football as much as the Bears needs its offensive line to be the most dependable group _ not the most disappointing.
Typically, Fox teams feature two running backs capable of controlling the clock, a luxury the Bears enjoy. Rookie Jeremy Langford and free-agent veteran Jacquizz Rodgers flashed enough potential to earn trust behind Matt Forte, who remains the offense’s most valuable player. But the runners need room the line so far has struggled to provide, partly why the first-string offense failed to score a touchdown in roughly five quarters.
You can blame quarterback Jay Cutler, out of habit, but Cutler’s efficiency has been one of the few bright spots of August. Cutler has done and said all the right things but could enjoy a bounce-back season personally and the Bears still could top out at 6-10. The return of receivers Eddie Royal and Jeffery, whenever it is, should help Cutler but, despite the national overreaction to his every move, the play of the Bears quarterback remains far from the team’s barometer or biggest concern.
Defense nudged itself back to the top of that list. When rookie nose tackle Eddie Goldman left with a concussion, it reinforced how shaky things are. No second-round draft pick should matter that much this soon. Yet with the three-game suspension of Jeremiah Ratliff — who also left with an ankle injury — Goldman becomes perhaps the Bears’ most important defensive player.
Starting linebackers Shea McClellin and Christian Jones gave defensive coordinator Vic Fangio ample reason to re-open the competition. Safety Antrel Rolle looks slower and older every series. And if the Bears really believe they have five cornerbacks better than Tim Jennings, a surprise cut Sunday, somewhere Aaron Rodgers licks his chops. Bright spots defensively included outside linebacker Jared Allen showing athleticism and tackle Will Sutton wreaking havoc, but overall the unit’s talent gap is more like a canyon. The defense will need all of Fangio’s finagling with his 3-4 scheme to stump quarterbacks.
Speaking of confusing people, the Bears continued to let miscommunication cloud their injury reports. Fox easily could have ruled Jeffery out Thursday, but instead the receiver was omitted from the pregame “Not In Uniform, Will Not Play” list, sparking reporters to tweet the possibility he might dress — which would have implied progress for a guy whose health status is unknown.
About 45 minutes later, everybody was informed of the oversight and Fox revealed postgame that Jeffery never even accompanied the team to Ohio. The Bears also created unnecessary intrigue ordering backup quarterback Jimmy Clausen not to speak to the media about the concussion he apparently never suffered.
When it comes to the Bears’ new regime, nobody really knows what to believe. Only that this team is hard to believe in.
