The Sun-Times’ Mark Potash breaks down how the Bears progressed through training camp, which ended Sunday, and what lies ahead:
The Bears and Roquan Smith will …
Be given time to get acclimated into the Vic Fangio’s system and won’t be rushed or pushed to win the starting job. That’s one benefit of having a first-round draft pick join a top-10 defense where he will be surrounded by players with a lot of familiarity in Fangio’s system. Smith faces a challenge, but compared to savior draft picks, he has the wind at his back. He doesn’t have to start Week 1, and likely will not.
The biggest challenge awaiting Smith is …
Avoiding injury as he either consciously or subconsciously tries to catch up on missed time. You’re never in as good a shape as you think you are when you’re working out on your own and not playing actual football.
Mitch Trubisky has been …
Good enough, considering he’s learning a new offensive system, getting acclimated to new receivers and playing against a top-10 defense that has much greater familiarity and cohesiveness in the second, third and fourth year under Vic Fangio.
I’m concerned about …
Mitch Trubisky suffering a significant injury. He’s the one player the Bears cannot afford to lose. Chase Daniel knows Matt Nagy’s system well, but he’s not Trubisky, or Nick Foles for that matter.
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Be excited about …
A season of Bears football without the dread of watching a wayward team spinning its wheels and a coaching staff death watch in the second half. The Bears will struggle, but unless Trubisky is a bust, most of their mistakes will be in the name of progress and not because they lack an NFL-quality receiving corps or an inventive game plan. Long, long way to go, but barring major injuries, the Bears should at least be improved this season.
My training camp MVP was …
Akiem Hicks. It’s hard to make judgments based on training camp, but Hicks is coming off back-to-back years of growth — with a lot of eyes on him — and looks ready to take another step this season. Nose tackle Eddie Goldman looks better, too, which only increases the possibility that Hicks will have a huge season in 2018.
Matt Nagy has proved to be …
Not John Fox. It remains to be seen if the offense can execute on game day what they’re implementing in training camp, but until then, Nagy has been a breath of fresh air. Andy Reid indeed seems to prepare his coaches well — Nagy rarely if ever looks like a rookie head coach. And his handling of injuries and the Roquan Smith holdout have been admirable so far.