Bears Blitz

Published by Bryan Dietzler on August 2, 2010
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

Friday, the 30th of July, marked the first day of Bears training camp. As a Bears fan I  was excited to see Friday come knowing that it wouldn’t be long before real football was going to be played.

Many Bears fans, including myself are hoping that this is going to be a good season and there is a lot of reason for the optimism that we share. Some of those reasons include the fact that the Bears have brought in a new offensive coordinator in Mike Martz who has been known for bringing offensive success to some of the places he has coached. Adding defensive end Julius Peppers is sure to make the Bears defense much better and help get the pass rush going.

It could be a great year in Chicago, and already this season we are starting to see some great things come out of training camp.

Injury Update

Already this past weekend, we have seen some injuries. Safety Chris Harris has been day to day with a back sprain and as a result, hasn’t been practicing. Currently Josh Bullocks and Craig Steltz are playing with the first team defense while Harris is out.

Major Wright is also seeing some additional action at the safety position. 
Sticking with the secondary cornerback and free agent acquisition, Tim Jennings has been in and out of practice with knee problems, so fans may want to keep an eye on that.

On the offensive side of the ball, wide receiver Juaquin Iglesias was out with a groin injury and running back Harvey Unga sat down with a hamstring pull. Both are deemed not to be serious and both players should be back to practicing with the team soon.

Stars of Practice

After observing some of the action in training camp over the weekend, it was clear that the passing game was taking the forefront for the offense. There were times when Cutler seemed to be dead on target with his throws, and his mechanics look great. But then there were other times where he looked erratic and couldn’t get the ball on target (where the receiver can catch it).

Granted, it’s only a few days into training camp but Cutler should be much crisper than he has been.

He is someone that everyone will keep an eye on as camp progresses. His wide receivers, in particular both Devin Hester and Johnny Knox, have been catching a lot of passes from Cutler and looking good doing it. This is probably a preview of what we will see on Sundays at the wide receiver position, and if they can keep things up, then at least the passing offense should be in fairly good shape heading into the season.

Speaking of passing offense, the Bears’ tight ends got in on the action during the first day of training camp and looked very good catching the ball. Perhaps this show was put on to dispel any thoughts that the tight ends may become strictly blockers this season. We will soon find out whether or not they will be an active part of the passing game.

In regards to the running backs and how they have fared, they have been going through their usual (running) drills on the field, but haven’t seen much action except for some on Saturday. When they did have the chance to catch passes, they did pretty well, especially Chester Taylor. Expect to see more out of this group—and their pass catching ability—this week in camp.

As has been the case in almost every camp that I have been to (whether it’s Chicago or another team) the defense has looked much better than the offense at the start.

Already, the defense has picked off Cutler twice (one by defensive end Julius Peppers and another by cornerback Zach Bowman). They are already starting to look like a cohesive unit and as long as they don’t have any injuries, this group should be much improved over last year’s squad.

Potential Surprise

Reserve offensive guard Johan Asiata has had a solid camp so far and could contend for the guard spot opposite Roberto Garza. Keep a close eye on this guy as he is turning heads and making a name for himself.

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