The Bears will take to Soldier Field for the first time this pre-season to face the Oakland Raiders for an exibition.
If you listen to offensive coordinator Mike Martz, these games don't matter in the grand scheme of things. Still, there are things fans should keep an eye out for when watching Saturday night's Bears game.
A cohesive offensive line: Jerry Angelo acknowledged that the O-line needs to show that they can work together.
"We need to get to five guys working together. That’s paramount," Angelo said in Thursday's press conference. "I feel right now we’ll have closure on that, and we need to see this weekend how they’ll perform."
The battle of the running backs, part II: Kahlil Bell and Garrett Wolfe will continue to battle for the third running back spot. Overall, the Bears ground game was so miserable last week that neither back truly distinguished himself. According to Martz, that's not nearly as important as what they do in practice.
"They’ve shown up really big in practice, and again for us, we’re more attentive to probably what we’re doing in practice right now," Martz said. "We will isolate those guys individually now coming down the stretch and give them an opportunity and take a look at them."
How Matt Gutierrez handles being thrown in the deep end: The backup QB was signed on Wednesday, and could see playing time on Saturday. Martz is excited to see how a player he doesn't know well will handle it.
"I didn't know Danny (Lefevour) or Caleb and am very pleased with both those guys, It's kind of fun having someone you don't know to come in and just see what they can do."
Which wide receiver will step up? Last week, it was Devin Aromashodu who turned heads, catching four passes for 78 yards. Will anyone else step up? Earl Bennett sat out Thursday's practice with a hamstring issue. With so many Bears wideouts doing well, Bennett needs to figure out a way to make a name for himself.
"When he gets back in, he’ll define his future by what he does in practice each day," Martz said. "Who knows? He may step on the field. I don’t know. We’re very careful about drawing conclusions about any personnel, let them define themselves on what they do."
Will special teams be able to rebound? The special teams unit was flat out awful last week, with Robbie Gould as the only bright spot. Keep an eye on Brad Maynard and the rest of special teams unit, and how they use the playing time to show that they belong on the Bears.
