A sack and fumble recovery in his NFL debut only whetted Zacch Pickens’ appetite.
“It opened my eyes to see what I can do,” the rookie defensive tackle said after the Bears’ 23-17 victory over the Titans on Saturday at Soldier Field. “I just need to do more. The job is never done. I’ve got to watch the tape, criticize myself. That way I can get better to help the team and help myself.”
Pickens, a third-round draft pick from South Carolina (64th overall), was one of several Bears rookies to make a good first impression against Tennessee.
“We’ve been trying to get myself ready for this moment, and I was definitely ready for the moment,” Pickens said.
It was only the first preseason game, against mostly Titans backups on both sides of the ball. But even with that in mind, most of the Bears’ drafted rookies showed at least glimpses of why they’re here.
Right tackle Darnell Wright (first round) showed off his mobility. Cornerback Tyrique Stevenson (second round) had seven tackles, a near pick and a tackle for loss. Running back Roschon Johnson (fourth round) had a 24-yard run. Linebacker Noah Sewell (fifth round) had a sack. Defensive tackle Travis Bell (seventh round) shared a sack with Jalen Harris.
General manager Ryan Poles’ first draft class produced three rookie starters in 2022 — cornerback Kyler Gordon (second round), safety Jaquan Brisker (second round ) and left tackle Braxton Jones (fifth round). But this year’s draft class could be even more productive overall, with a first-round pick Poles didn’t have in 2022 and a greater lead time to find players who fit the offensive and defensive schemes.
Poles went heavy with athletes in this draft — seven of his 10 picks were 5-star and 4-star college recruits. (Only Bell — a lightly recruited player who went to Kennesaw State — was lower than a 3-star recruit.)
In fact, Poles drafted more 5-star players in this draft (Wright, Dexter, Pickens and Sewell) than Ryan Pace drafted in seven years (Eddie Goldman, Jonathan Bullard and Justin Fields).
That doesn’t mean they’ll be great football players. You still have to coach ‘em up. But if you can, the potential to strike gold goes way up.
The only certainty at this point is that they’ll get their chance. As evidenced last year when the Bears had the third-most rookie snaps on offense and defense in the NFL, coach Matt Eberflus’ philosophy is to give talented rookies every opportunity to make it.
2. Most of the starters had light duty against the Titans. But Stevenson, a current starter at cornerback, was given extended time, and it paid off.
After a rookie mistake on the first play from scrimmage that led to a 30-yard completion from Malik Willis to Chris Moore — “Just took my eyes off my man,” he said — Stevenson responded with a pass breakup that could have been an interception and seven tackles, including a tackle for loss when he sniffed out a wide receiver screen.
“I realized what everybody was telling me — it was just a game of football,” Stevenson said. “So I went out with the confidence I always [have]. I made a couple of mistakes [that] I should clean up. But other than that, I felt comfortable.”
3. Fun Fact: Justin Fields’ 62-yard touchdown pass to DJ Moore marked the first time the Bears scored a touchdown with their starting quarterback in a preseason opener since 2014, when Jay Cutler threw a 10-yard TD pass to tight end Zach Miller against the Eagles.
The Bears had gone 15 series with their starting quarterback in a preseason opener without a touchdown until Fields’ pass to Moore — 67 plays, 220 yards (3.3 average), with two turnovers (including a pick-six) and a field goal.
4. Velus Jones’ star-crossed NFL career took another discouraging turn when the second-year wide receiver misplayed a punt — letting it bounce, then muffing the attempt to return it. Jones talked his way through similar issues as a rookie last year but left the locker room without talking to reporters this time. Hard to blame him.
The Bears aren’t about to give up on Jones — he’s a 2022 third-round draft pick with a lot of speed and talent. But with an upgraded receivers room, he’s less likely to get opportunities on offense. And he’ll have to earn the coaching staff’s trust in the return game quickly to be a factor there.
5a. Sacks are among the most misleading preseason stats, but the Bears’ eight sacks against the Titans are still kind of a noteworthy oddity. The rest of the NFL averaged 2.6 sacks in preseason openers, with a high of five (the Lions, Falcons, Broncos and Jets). Terrell Lewis (two), Jalen Harris (1.5), Pickens, Trevis Gipson, Sewell and Bell (0.5) had the sacks.
5b. The Bears had eight sacks against the Ravens in their preseason opener in 2018 in the Hall of Fame Game — Roy Robertson-Harris, Bilal Nichols, Bullard, Nick Williams, Isaiah Irving, Kylie Fitts and Abdullah Anderson/Cavon Walker.
That was a bit of a harbinger of things to come, with Robertson-Harris, Nichols and Irving getting sacks in the regular season and Williams contributing in a pinch-hit role. The Bears finished ninth in the NFL in sacks per pass play that season, when they led the league in scoring defense under coordinator Vic Fangio.
6. We’re used to waiting to talk to players after a game because they have to shower or get treatment, check their text messages, get dressed or just get their bling just right. This was a new one, and the best one: waiting for Pickens because he was calling his mom after his first NFL game.
“She was just happy for me,” Pickens said. “Usually she would be here because she’s always trying to be at every game. I want her at every game, so whenever she’s not, I call her.”
7. Justin Fields’ 129 passing yards and two touchdowns in three pass plays said more about the Bears’ offense than it did about Fields, but so what? Let’s face it, big gains off short throws — especially on screen passes — might be just another play in Kansas City but are almost a revelation in Chicago.
The Bears, in fact, were last in the NFL in yards after the catch last season with 1,147, according to stats.com — well below the league average of 1,861 and less than half of the league-leading Chiefs’ 2,797. The Bears had 135 yards after the catch with Fields at quarterback Saturday. Not parade-route-worthy, but a sign of progress in a Bears offense.
8. Panthers Watch: Rookie quarterback Bryce Young completed 4 of 6 passes for 21 yards and a 72.2 passer rating in a 27-0 loss to the Jets. In three drives with Young at quarterback, the Panthers gained a net 16 yards in 11 plays.
9. Ex-Bear of the Week: Bills backup quarterback Matt Barkley completed 14 of 15 passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns for a nearly perfect 154.0 passer rating in a 23-19 victory over the Colts.
10. Bear-ometer: 8-9 —vs. Packers (L); at Buccaneers (W); at Chiefs (L); vs. Broncos (L); at Commanders (W); vs. Vikings (W); vs. Raiders (W); at Chargers (L); at Saints (L); vs. Panthers (W); at Lions (L); at Vikings (L); vs. Lions (W); at Browns (L); vs. Cardinals (W); vs. Falcons (L); at Packers (W).
