Matt Barkley has been on the big stage, Bears coach John Fox said, even if he hasn’t started a game as a pro.
The quarterback, who figures to do just that Sunday against the Titans, agreed.
“Even high school, we were on nationally televised games and big crowds kind of through my whole life, big moments,” said the former prep Gatorade National Player of the Year. I” don’t like to see the big picture when it comes to living in that moment, I like to focus on the task at hand.”
While we wonder if more people will watch the Bears than Mater Dei High School, here are 10 more Bears questions:
1. Can he score?
Barkley hasn’t thrown a touchdown since college, when he found Marqise Lee for a fourth-quarter touchdown in the Nov. 17, 2012, rivalry game against UCLA. He then left with a shoulder injury. Barkley has six NFL interceptions.
2. Three QBs?
Barkley will become the Bears’ third starting quarterback this year. They haven’t used three different starters since 2011, when Jay Cutler (10 games), Caleb Hanie (4) and Josh McCown (2) split duties. Cutler started 15 games in three of the next four seasons.
The Bears haven’t had four starters since 2004, when Craig Krenzel, Chad Hutchinson, Jonathan Quinn and Rex Grossman combined to go 5-11.
3. Whose film was that?
The Bears had a surprise addition to the film session in Thursday’s offensive meeting: highlights of Flipper Anderson’s 336-yard receiving game, an NFL record set Nov. 26, 1989.
“That was real cool,” said Dres Anderson, the Bears’ newest practice squad receiver.
The reason: Flipper is his dad.
“I love who my dad was, who he is now,” he said. “It’s just knowledge, and things he can show me and teach me.”
4. Cool story, right?
Maybe not as cool as a man the Bears also signed to the practice squad this week: offensive lineman Lawrence Okoye.
The Englishman was a rugby prospect as a teenager before focusing on track and field, where he set the British discus record. He competed in the 2012 Olympics, finishing 12th.
Okoye came to the league as a defensive lineman in 2013; he’s played in the Cardinals, Jets and Cowboys systems on both sides of the line.
5. Wanna bet?
The Titans’ over/under has gone over in seven of their last eight games; the Bears have gone under in four of the last five. Sunday’s number is 42.
6. Takeaway time?
Probably not. Only the Jaguars have fewer takeaways than the Bears’ eight. The Titans, however, have gone two-straight games without turning the ball over.
No quarterback has more lost fumbles than Marcus Mariota’s four, though.
“A lot of times it’s maybe not tucking it away. A lot of times it’s a guy getting a hand on it and ….sometimes the ball’s not bouncing your way,” Mariota said. “But a lot of that, I can improve on. I’ve been working on it. Everyone kinda talks about carrying the football high and tight. Those are things I’m working on in practice.”
7. How’s this for an age gap?
Bears offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains called Titans defensive boss Dick LeBeau “maybe the best ever” — and he’s not far off.
He’s also 43 years his senior. The 79-year-old LeBeau was on his third NFL job when Loggains was born in 1980. Amazingly, Sunday’s matchup isn’t the widest age gap among coordinators this year. The Lions’ Jim Bob Cooter, one of two NFL offensive coordinators younger than Loggains, lost to LeBeau in Week 2.
8. Watch the fake?
The Titans ran a failed reverse on a fake punt Sunday. The week before, they started the Colts game with a failed onside kick.
“Anytime a team does something like that, it just reminds you they are willing to do that … ” said special teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers, who is familiar with Titans counterpart Steve Hoffman from when they each had AFC West jobs. “You just hope your guys are ready for it when it happens.”
9. Cooking at home?
Win today, and it would mark their first two-game home win streak since November 2014, Marc Trestman’s last two wins. Since then, the Bears are 3-12 at Soldier Field.
10. PATs no good?
After kickers missed an NFL-record 12 extra points last week, Rodgers guessed one reason why they were different than a 33-yard field goal: there’s less risk for defenses trying to guess the snap count. On fourth down, an offside might lead to a first down.
