Brad Biggs Chicago Tribune
Some thoughts after the Chicago Bears put a thorough beating on the Buffalo Bills in every phase Sunday night to run away with a 38-0 preseason victory at Soldier Field.
It was the most points the Bears have scored in an exhibition game since 1999 and just the second shutout in the preseason by the defense this century, with the last coming in the 2015 finale (24-0 win over the Cleveland Browns).
Thought: It wasn’t perfect, but you have to believe Ben Johnson and his offensive staff left the stadium feeling pretty good about what they saw from Caleb Williams in his first preseason action.
Bills Bears Football
Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams looks to pass the ball against the Buffalo Bills during the first half of an NFL preseason football game on Aug. 17 in Chicago. Kamil Krzaczynski, Associated Press
The Bears looked to be in a tough spot when Tyler Scott had difficulty handling the opening kickoff, forcing the offense to start on its own 8-yard line. What followed was a snappy 92-yard drive, the likes of which you seldom saw during Williams’ rookie season.
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It’s also something the offense has failed to execute with consistency through much of training camp. There haven’t been many seven-play sequences for this unit — that’s how many it took for the Bears to reach the end zone on a 36-yard touchdown pass to Olamide Zaccheaus.
That it came against the second stringers for the Bills is worth noting, but the bottom line is Williams and the Bears offense delivered and that is what coaches and fans alike were looking for — a clean operation pre-snap and the ability to move the ball. An offense that was worst in the league in scoring in the first quarter in 2024 — the Bears scored only 27 points — marched right downfield for a touchdown.
It was a longer scoring drive than the Bears had all last year. In fact, the Bears managed only three scoring drives (two touchdowns, one field goal) of 80 or more yards in 2024. Think about that for a second. It was an offense that really struggled to march the length of the field for points.
Williams had a nice, easy throw to Colston Loveland off a play-action bootleg on the first play. Then, Williams and Cole Kmet read an advantage in the middle of a two-shell look by the Bills for a 29-yard gain down the seam and, just like that, the offense was out near midfield.
“We’re done with installs,” Williams said. “So it’s just being able to go back over everything, kind of skim over it, some of the small details that were written down throughout the 12, 13 installs we had. I’ve been able to see some of those small details.
“Now, it’s taking the next steps of making sure I can handle everything when we get up to the line. A part of it was also Ben and I had a conversation, we’ve talked about it in interviews now, is the procedures and getting up to the line, having everybody all on the same page. I think we felt like we were at a good point, and it was now time to show results.”
From Johnson’s vantage point, it wasn’t play design or anything of that nature, but simply the players being able to execute.
“It really had nothing to do with scheme,” he said. “It was all about our guys and how they wanted to play the game. We asked them to play clean football, which that’s what I was most proud of. I thought our operation from breaking the huddle to snapping the ball on offense and our communication on defense was really good.”
Williams connected with Loveland again on a drag route for 18 yards to overcome a holding penalty on center Drew Dalman on the touchdown drive. The second possession wasn’t as tight overall, but there was a nice out route to DJ Moore for 10 yards on third-and-5 when Williams diagnosed man coverage and threw a good ball on the kind of route he struggled with in his pregame workout that included 87 throws the previous weekend.
Williams finished 6-of-10 for 107 yards with the one touchdown — and hope of growing momentum.
“To (go back) a month ago, I think I’ve grown a lot,” he said. “Now, my mindset is to keep growing. It’s been my mindset since I’ve been a little child, to keep growing. Where I see myself, I think the idea is to be able to handle every single thing that I can and everything that Ben says I should be able to handle. If that’s handling everything at the line, handling everything and taking things off of other people’s plates, that’s what it is. Being able to do that consistently over the next couple of years is important for me.”
That’s what the elite quarterbacks do. They pick up the load for teammates. They find ways to make something wrong right. They come up with ways to put teammates in position to have success. That’s how they elevate the 10 players around them.
“He’s really been locked in,” Johnson said. “Anytime you’re a young player, there’s usually a couple of steps forward and one step back. And that’s really been the story of this training camp. He and I have been really open and honest about it as we’ve gone through. And he’s had some really good practices, and he’s had a couple where it’s not good enough.
“I thought the three days of practice we had this week and this game were the most he’s stacked up good days in a row right now. The challenge is going to be to keep pushing that direction.”
Thought: The Detroit Lions used 12 personnel (one running back, two wide receivers and two tight ends) 32.3% of the time last season, the third-most in the NFL.
After drafting Colston Loveland with the No. 10 pick, you have to believe the Bears could approach that percentage even with four wide receivers in DJ Moore, Rome Odunze, Olamide Zaccheaus and Luther Burden III who can be mismatches for opposing defensive backs.
Bills Bears Football
Chicago Bears tight end Colston Loveland is tackled by Buffalo Bills cornerback Brandon Codrington during the first half of an NFL preseason football game on Aug. 17 in Chicago. Kamil Krzaczynski, Associated Press
Loveland caught two passes for 26 yards on the Bears’ touchdown drive and Cole Kmet had the big 29-yard catch down the seam, something we rarely saw a year ago. The Bears have a better and more versatile tight end room than the Lions did a year ago, even with their young star Sam LaPorta.
“I think Ben gets that position as well as any play caller in the NFL,” said Fox analyst Greg Olsen, the former Bears tight end. “I think the one thing everyone needs to be careful with: I don’t know if it has to look exactly like it did in Detroit for it to be successful in Chicago. One thing Ben has shown is based on the personnel, based on the strengths and weaknesses of the group, he can build the scheme to fit and run various different styles.
“I do think the consistency of early down 12 personnel with Cole and Colston, I think that is something they’re going to want to continue to major in. I think that’s going to be a big part of their offense.”
Loveland and Kmet give Johnson a ton of flexibility. With Loveland’s speed and ability as a receiver, the Bears can make 12 personnel look like 11 (one running back, three wide receivers and one tight end). Their 11 can look different with Loveland or Kmet on the field. The possibilities are really limitless.
With 12 personnel, the Bears have guys that can help create edges in the running game. They can flex Loveland out wide. They have the ability to help out at left tackle, and I think Braxton Jones will be the Week 1 starter. More on that topic in a little bit. But the offense can use a six-man protection with 12 personnel and still have enough targets in the pattern to win downfield.
“Their ability to go between 11 big with Cole and 11 faster with Colston is kind of similar to what me and Dez (Clark) used to do early in my career,” Olsen said. “And then the 12 personnel stuff with DJ, Rome and obviously Luther the rookie, who they love, and Olamide, that’s a really good group of guys that you can build different personnel groupings with. You don’t draft a tight end 10th overall if you don’t have big visions for what he can do.”
Kmet has been around long enough to know you can’t put too much emphasis on 13 total plays for the starting offense, but he’s also intrigued about the possibilities of expanded, improved and much more explosive 12 personnel groupings.
“When you have Colston out there, what’s nice is now I get matched up with a linebacker instead of a safety,” he said. “In previous years, when we were in 12, I would more likely get the safety. Now, if they go man (coverage), I am getting the backer, which is a huge advantage for me. I can run away from a backer pretty easily. And then if they decide to go nickel, good luck stopping us in the run game. I think there are a lot of advantages we can get from using it.”
Thought: When you’re looking at the starting lineups, two big questions remain as you point ahead to the Sept. 8 opener against Minnesota.
Who will play left tackle and what cornerback will line up opposite Jaylon Johnson, assuming the two-time Pro Bowl performer is back for that game?
The left tackle situation is a little easier to handicap right now than the battle at cornerback between Tyrique Stevenson and Nahshon Wright. I’ve maintained for a while that Jones is the likely starter at left tackle and that’s taking nothing away from the big improvements the team has seen from Theo Benedet, whose situation I will explore in a bit.
Jones started the game at left tackle after Benedet probably got more practice reps with the first team during the week. Jones’ experience with 40 career starts has made him the favorite all along, even as second-round pick Ozzy Trapilo got a long look at left tackle in the first two-plus weeks of training camp.
Jones has to continue to get more comfortable sticking his left leg into the ground while working back from surgery on his left ankle last December. He needs to be more consistent with his hand punch too. That’s been an issue for him all along.
Offensive line coach Dan Roushar thought Jones performed well in the joint practice with Miami last week before regressing in the game. Jones thought he was solid in Friday’s practice with the Bills and hopes he made it out of Sunday’s game with a more even showing. It looked like Bills defensive end A.J. Epenesa beat Jones inside on the third-and-5 pass to DJ Moore on the second series. Other than that, Jones looked OK from my press box vantage point.
“Just like I told you last week, I am just taking more steps to really, truly feeling like myself, and tonight was another step in the right direction,” Jones said. “Last week after looking at the film, I should have been a little more critical and definitely some things to clean up. This week, some things to clean up again, but feeling better and feeling more like myself each and every week.”
Jones said all three of his reps in one-on-one pass rush drills with Buffalo came against Joey Bosa. He felt he definitely won two of the three and recovered on the third.
“I think this game is going to go a long way (toward deciding the starter),” coach Ben Johnson said. “I would be remiss to say I could really tell from the sideline view. We’re going to have to look at that tape to know for sure. But we kind of came into this game saying that this was going to be a big one for that.
“(Jones) has shown flashes of his old self and yet there’s been some moments where I know we’re going to get beat in this league. When you’re playing tackle against some of these pass rushers, you’re going to lose a rep or two. There’s two things. One is how do you bounce back when that happens? The other one, how do we slow down from losing too fast? If we’re going to lose, we want to lose slow. We’ll see what we look like here tonight, but I certainly didn’t … I felt like we had good protection throughout. There were times when we were running the ball, you could feel that as you’re calling the game to stay on schedule there so we’ll see what that looks like.”
One thing Johnson made clear during the week is that the Bears will be selecting a starter for Week 1. It’s going to be a week-to-week gig for at least a while. He intimated the team will be keeping a close eye on things through the first month. So even if Jones is the starter when the regular season arrives, he’s going to have to play to a level that makes the coaches comfortable keeping him in there. And that’s going to keep a level of competition alive during regular-season practices.
Benedet has a great story. He has a chance to add real value to this roster and could wind up playing left tackle in regular-season games this season. The Bears are probably going to want to side with experience, at least from the outset.
As far as what happens at cornerback, I think there’s a little more mystery there. Johnson did some work on the field with an athletic trainer before the game — and that was a good sign. The team believes he will be ready to play in time to face the Vikings. Wright has gotten an awful lot of time with the first unit going back to the spring. This one is too close to call.
Thought: Theo Benedet got the most raucous reaction to the rookie talent show last season, at least what was shown on HBO’s ‘Hard Knocks.’
The undrafted offensive lineman from Canada did a rendition of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless The USA.” The room was rolling before Benedet pulled his tearaway pants off during the skit to reveal a bald eagle Speedo.
Unfortunately, that hilarious act — he had players, coaches and staff in stitches — is what Benedet was most known for before this past week. Benedet suffered a hamstring injury blocking on an extra point in the Hall of Fame Game, which prevented him from getting an offensive snap through the remainder of the preseason.
He spent the season on the practice squad (playing guard about 70% of the time) and when the coaching staff turned over, new offensive line coach Dan Roushar didn’t have a lot to work from. There was just a little practice tape of Benedet in full pads and some college tape from the University of British Columbia, for what that was worth. That was about it.
Let’s just say Benedet has come a long way in a short period of time, getting reps in practices Wednesday, Thursday and Friday with the starters at left tackle. He played the same position in the preseason opener against the Dolphins with the reserves. He played the same position in the preseason opener against Miami with the reserves and was with the second team against Buffalo as the Bears scored three touchdowns in the second quarter to take a 28-0 lead and break the game open.
“There are always some plays you are going to want back,” Benedet said. “I am still getting my feet under myself a little bit at left tackle in terms of in game. It was good.”
Sometimes, players wait for the film review with the coaching staff the next day to assess how they performed. Benedet was fixing to look at the video on his tablet Sunday night.
“I will go home right now and see how I did,” he said. “You know, you’re anxious.”
Roushar called Benedet the most improved player since the start of the offseason program. Of course, no one had further to come. It’s not like All-Pro Joe Thuney has an immense amount of room for growth.
“That was nice of him,” Benedet said, understanding that as an evaluation of him ratchets up that it’s what he does in the days and weeks to come that really matters.
“Technically, I would say footwork has been a big difference for me,” Benedet said. “Run game targets. Pass pro, it’s been up and down with some of the stuff in my sets but it’s coming along. Physically, I think the strength staff has done a good job over the summer setting targets for what they wanted me to hit. Probably a combination of those things.”
Benedet put stock in exit interviews with the front office at the end of last season.
What is the next step to be in the mix for the 53-man roster?
He trained in Vancouver from January until the beginning of the voluntary offseason program with Joe McCullum, the UBC strength coach. Joining them was Giovanni Manu, another UBC lineman drafted in the fourth round by the Detroit Lions in 2024. Both are still trying to prove they can make the leap from playing college football in Canada to contributing in the NFL.
After the offseason program ended, Benedet and Kiran Amegadjie went to Atlanta to train with offensive line specialist Jared Southers. Now, Benedet is nearing the end of training camp not only in the mix for a spot on the roster but at least in consideration to be the starting left tackle, which would be a monumental leap.
“It’s gratifying for sure as a start to know that the coaches have seen some of what I am doing,” Benedet said. “I think it’s great for me as a player to get consistent reps against great rushers, Dayo (Odeyingbo), (Montez) Sweat, those guys that can kind of teach me some things about the holes in my game.”
Bears general manager Ryan Poles, in an interview last week on WSCR-670 AM, said Benedet’s performance through camp has put him in a position to be in the mix.
“He has excelled,” Poles said. “Just seeing the growth physically, he’s earned the right to get into that competition. We’re excited to see him get more and more reps at the left spot and he’s shown he can play a little bit of right and he’s shown he can play guard which brings tremendous value.
“And then Ozzy (Trapilo) we’ve also got to look forward to the season too. So wherever this lands, you’ve got to show some versatility to be active on game day and to help us.”
If Benedet can continue to trend upward, maybe soon he’ll be known for more than the training camp skit in which he earned the nickname the Canadian Eagle.
“That’s the goal,” he said.
Thought: Kudos to running back Ian Wheeler for a big night as he continues to work his way back from a torn ACL suffered in the preseason finale last summer.
The Howard product carried 19 times for 80 yards to lead a rushing attack that piled up 171 yards. He scored two touchdowns Sunday, just as he did in a preseason meeting against the Bills last season. He and Brittain Brown (16 carries, 73 yards, one TD) probably got a little more work than expected as Deion Hankins left the game early and rookie Kyle Monangai, who is dealing with a minor soft tissue injury, was not in uniform. Starter D’Andre Swift was also held out.
More work was welcome for Wheeler.
“They kept me on IR because they saw the potential I have,” he said. “This has been hard. This has been probably the most difficult thing that I have had to deal with, coming back from an injury like that and trying to get back into form. I trusted the training staff, trusted my surgeon, trusted the coaching staff, the new ones that came in, and trusted my teammates most of all.”
The Bears could have cast Wheeler aside after the injury last season. But they were intrigued by his speed — he was timed at 4.39 seconds in the 40-yard dash as an undrafted free agent — and they liked the person more. So, they stashed him on IR and Wheeler tackled the often lonely existence that players out with a season-long injury face. Quiet rehabilitation alone. Icing the knee at night at home. A long offseason of more rehabilitation.
It got me thinking about a conversation I had with Wheeler during training camp last summer when he revealed he had deferred acceptance to McGovern Medical School in Houston, part of the University of Texas system, with a plan to study psychiatry.
“Mental health is something I am real interested in,” Wheeler told me then. “Being able to relate how the mind affects the rest of the body. I think it just goes back to, in general, you see people do things and you’re like, ‘Why did they do that?’ Everyone’s mind works differently.”
Imagine how he was tested during the recovery from the ACL and then consider how he’s feeling now.
“That kind of goes up and down,” he said. “I thought I was fine in May, and then a setback here and then all of a sudden it doesn’t feel that great. And then in camp because there are good days and bad days. It’s my new normal. And that’s something I have to adjust with. I know I can play. It’s me putting that into my play and being as confident as I can be when I am out there and that is something I still have to work through.”
Wheeler believes the speed is there — that he could run a similar timed speed on his rebuilt knee.
“I think I am just as fast,” he said. “Right now, I am just a little rusty and I have to make sure I trust myself.”
It’s going to be an uphill battle for him to win a job on the 53-man roster, but the Bears liked Wheeler last summer enough to keep him and maybe they favor him for a spot on the practice squad.
Thought: If there was any lingering doubt who will open the season as QB2, that has been erased.
Veteran Case Keenum missed the game with a leg injury, and if third-year man Tyson Bagent didn’t have the spot already secured, he locked it down.
Bagent completed 13 of 22 passes for 196 yards and an 11-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Scott. He led four scoring drives and the impression he’s left on the front office — general manager Ryan Poles called him the hardest working player in the building — has spread to the coaching staff.
You’ve heard Ben Johnson, offensive coordinator Declan Doyle and even Keenum heap praise on Bagent throughout camp. He’s been consistent with the pre-snap operation from the outset and his play is continuing to grow.
Maybe he’s not treating preseason as his Super Bowl, but it sure as heck is more meaningful to him than just some exhibition.
“If everything goes well this year, this is it,” Bagent said of the preseason. “I’ll be watching a lot of football this year. 18 (Caleb Williams) will go out there and do his thing. This means the world to me, this is my life’s work being put into work right here in front of everybody. It means a lot to me. But I’m really just trying to get better, myself day in and day out. Bank as many reps as possible and be as ready as I can be for the long season that is coming.”
Bagent’s approach is authentic. That’s who he is on an everyday basis whether it’s mid-August, midseason or the middle of the offseason. He’s trying to be better today than he was yesterday. He’s trying to assist his teammates however he can.
How QB Tyson Bagent rose from zero-star recruit to Division II record-breaker to Chicago Bears rookie starter
It looks like he’s gotten better with Johnson’s arrival too, in a system that can highlight some of what he does well.
“As far as developing, I think it’s been amazing,” Bagent said. “I think the coaching staff has done an amazing job of not allowing there to be any gray area on any play. Everything is black and white. If something doesn’t work, it’s because someone made a mistake. That’s easy to point out.
“In previous years, there’s been kind of a gray area where we could have gone here, but we went here. Just that limbo that a lot of staffs have. That does not seem to be an issue with this staff. I think everything has been great and you can see it is paying off with the execution.”
As far as what Poles said, Bagent called that the finest compliment he could receive.
“It means the world,” he said. “It allows me to come into the office with as much confidence as I could possibly have. As long as I can feel like that and continue to work as hard as I can, the harder I work, the luckier I get. Just trying to keep that thing going.”
Some have wondered if the Bears could potentially turn Bagent into a trade chip. Now? No way. For starters, another team would probably want to lean into regular-season performance to really feel motivated to make a move. But given the Bears quarterback history, if they’re potentially developing a homegrown undrafted talent, why in the world would they consider dealing him when so many teams, because of injuries, are forced to play with two quarterbacks during a season? It doesn’t add up at this point.
Thought: I’m not putting a ton of stock in what we saw from the Bears’ kickoff coverage unit last week.
Preseason performance in most areas is rarely instructive of how things will look in the regular season.
The Miami Dolphins had three kickoff returns that went for 37, 38 and 41 yards in last week’s preseason game. On Sunday night, Buffalo returned seven kickoffs, averaging 27.4 yards with none longer than 30.
Special teams coordinators juggle personnel weekly in the regular season and in the preseason, it’s even more of a hodgepodge with young players in position for evaluation and some players sitting out.
It will be very interesting to see how the NFL’s new touchback rule impacts games this season. The dynamic kickoff rule moved touchbacks to the 30-yard line last season and scoring leaguewide jumped more than a point from an average of 21.8 to 22.9 points per game. If there’s a bump again this season with the touchback line moved to the 35, it’s possible the all-time scoring mark of 24.8 in 2020 is challenged.
The kickoff return rate rose by 11 percentage points in 2024 to 32.8% from 21.8% in 2023. The league projected it would be much higher, but coaches chose to play the safe route and have kickers boot the ball deep into the end zone regularly. Now, with a touchback putting the opponent in business on its own 35-yard line, the belief is that kickoffs will spike. How high it will go depends on who you talk to. Some coaches I’ve chatted with expect it to double and be around 65%. Some think it could push as high as 75%.
There were 59 returns of 40 or more yards last season — the most since 2016 — and that number should easily be eclipsed in 2025. More big returns mean more short fields and more scoring. Along with the touchback moving to the 35, the league changed the rule and will allow the receiving team to have three players in the “setup zone” between the 30- and 35-yard lines. Those three players do not have to be touching the 35-yard line like the six players in the setup zone. This slight shift will allow coordinators to scheme some different angles for returns, some of the more detailed stuff that no coach is going to unveil in preseason.
The league’s goal in all of this was to reduce the number of concussions on kickoff plays. That was a major success last season. One thing a coordinator for another team told me a year ago was that he expected returners to incur more injuries for the simple reason that they’re going to be hit more. With kickoff returns expected to double — or more — that’s something to keep an eye on.
Thought: If there is a silver lining to injuries to frontline players in the secondary, it’s that coaches have gotten an entire camp to evaluate depth possibilities when looking ahead to an initial 53-man roster.
Cornerback Jaylon Johnson has missed all of camp with a leg injury, believed to be a calf issue suffered in training just before reporting. Nickel Kyler Gordon is week-to-week with a hamstring issue suffered before Week 1 of the preseason. A slew of injuries to cornerbacks and safeties led the team to sign four defensive backs off the street last week.
One player who is firmly in the mix is veteran Nick McCloud, someone defensive coordinator Dennis Allen singled out at the end of the first week of practices. McCloud has mixed in a little with the first unit and after missing the Dolphins game with an undisclosed minor injury, he was in action against the Bills as the starting nickel with Josh Blackwell being held out of the game.
McCloud, who played in college for NC State and Notre Dame, signed a $1.18 million, one-year contract early in the offseason and was primarily used in the slot during the spring. This summer, he’s been on the outside a little more. That flexibility, along with experience on special teams, is what strengthens his chances of sticking.
He was just looking for a chance to compete for a job after a tumultuous 2024 season split between the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers. According to an ESPN report from January, Giants general manager Joe Schoen approached McCloud about taking a pay cut before he started in a Week 4 game last season.
It’s not out of the ordinary for teams to approach players about pay reductions during the offseason. If the team can’t achieve the savings it desires, the player is cut. It’s completely unheard of during the season, according to various folks I chatted with around the league. The Giants had signed McCloud to a $2.98 million, one-year contract as a restricted free agent, so it’s not like there was room for them to save a ton of money.
Per the ESPN report, multiple players said that Schoen told McCloud’s agent, “Don’t pay October’s rent, all right? As soon as I can replace him, I’m going to replace him. I’m not (messing) around.”
The Giants wound up cutting McCloud five weeks later — after he started three more games — and he finished the season with the 49ers.
“Just the whole year was difficult for me, very difficult,” McCloud said. “All the stuff I went through, it’s pretty documented. I don’t really want to go back through it.”
Asked about the practice of trying to get a pay reduction from a player during the season, one GM was stunned.
“We’re talking about a qualifying offer here,” the GM said. “This wasn’t a contract worth $80 million guaranteed where there was a heated discussion in the offseason and someone got caught in the moment. That’s the ongoing joke we have with agents when they keep pressing for more and more. ‘Hey, we don’t call you asking for a pay cut, do we?’ Apparently, the Giants do.”
McCloud, 27, knew assistant special teams coach Anthony Blevins from New York and liked the chance to come in with a clear mind for a fresh start.
“Came up here on a visit and I liked it,” McCloud said. “They didn’t really have to sell me anything. Just the opportunity to come in and compete and help the team. Ben (Johnson) is doing a great job of changing the culture and getting guys to do things the right way at the highest level.”
What’s McCloud’s path to earning a spot on the roster?
“Whatever they need me to do,” he said. “And however it happens.”
Thought: Of the wide receivers who could help the Bears on special teams and began their careers with the Baltimore Ravens, Devin Duvernay has a higher profile. But Miles Boykin, a Providence Catholic product, is an interesting name if the team keeps six wide receivers because of his ability on special teams.
Boykin, drafted by the Ravens in the third round out of Notre Dame in 2019, could figure into the mix at the back end of the roster while Duvernay figures to have a good shot as the No. 5 receiver and punt returner.
Boykin was on the kickoff and kickoff return units against Buffalo. The coaching staff limited his role as he’s working his way back from a minor ankle injury. He showed up with one solo tackle and one assist.
“There is still a lot more that I can do,” he said. “I am trying to get back healthy to put on display what I can do when I am 100% and not hampered.”
While he did not develop as a receiver as the Ravens might have hoped, the 28-year-old was a proven special teams performer in Baltimore and for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He’s got good size at 6-foot-3, 231 pounds and can run well with plenty of work as a gunner. He had 523 snaps and 15 tackles on special teams with the Steelers in 2022 and 2023 before spending last season on the practice squads of the New York Giants and Seattle Seahawks.
Boykin has only six receptions since the start of the 2021 season, but if the Bears like how he fits into special teams, he could very much be a part of discussions when it comes to the final cuts, which are due Aug. 26, four days after the Bears close preseason at Kansas City.
If that’s the case, Boykin isn’t just competing against other possibilities at wide receiver for a roster spot. He’s battling against defensive backs and maybe linebackers for a job on special teams. With the Bears being so strong at wide receiver — DJ Moore, Rome Odunze, Olamide Zaccheaus and Luther Burden III are the top four choices — a decision for a potential sixth receiver could come down to special teams.
Boykin’s size could make him an interesting chess piece for special teams coordinator Richard Hightower. The Bills started out trying to block Boykin on kickoff coverage with a defensive back. The next time out, they shifted a tight end to him, a matchup that gives him an edge in terms of speed and quickness, especially when healthy.
It’s worth noting that GM Ryan Poles kept six receivers on the initial 53-man roster last season and seven in 2023 when the team carried N’Keal Harry through roster cuts to then place him on injured reserve.
Thought: If you are reading between the lines, it sounds like the team is going to give strong consideration to playing starters Friday night in the preseason finale at Kansas City.
It’s a long layoff with two weeks until the start of the regular season — and the Bears have an extra day as they don’t open until Monday, Sept. 8. So they may want to run out the first unit for a series or two against the Chiefs.
“We take into account the number of reps they’re having here,” coach Ben Johnson said. “I know we’ll have a good padded practice on Wednesday. We need one more of those. I thought a big part of what tonight was about was getting our routine down for a home night game, which is Week 1 for us. I thought our starters did a great job. They understood what the purpose was. They came out and got the job done and did what they needed to do and we got them out of the game. I thought the routine was a big part of it. This would be really the first time we’re on the road in a preseason. It’s probably good to go through that exercise as well.”
Thought: Fortunately, the Bears are not concerned that Kyle Monangai’s minor injury will keep the rookie running back sidelined long. But if they lose Deion Hankins this week, will they want to get another guy in the mix for the Kansas City game?
Four running backs were involved in the tryout that led to the signing of Brittain Brown. Tyrion Davis-Price (signed in Green Bay) and Aaron Shampklin (signed in Miami) were two others. The fourth was former Lion Jamaal Williams, who remains a free agent. Williams is coming off two poor seasons in New Orleans. It’s a short week to be adding a player at any position.
“It was all about our guys and how they wanted to play the game. We asked them to play clean football, which that’s what I was most proud of."
Ben Johnson, Chicago Bears head coach on win over Bills
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