Day Two of Chicago Bears training camp looked an awful lot like Day One. There were a few more pre-snap hiccups, but on the whole Justin Fields was sharp and made several impressive throws. We still haven’t seen a ton of situational work. Instead of running two-minute drills, move the ball periods, or getting in third down or red zone work, the Bears have opted for plenty of 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 periods.
Even with less emphasis on game scenarios in the early stages of camp, there has been plenty to see and things to take away from practice. These are the biggest observations from Thursday, July 27:
TYLER SCOTT SETTLING IN
The Bears rookie wide receiver had an up and down summer as the team went through OTAs and minicamp. There were big catches, but also some discouraging drops. On Thursday, Scott shined with two deep catches that went for touchdowns. The first came in 1-on-1 drills. Scott got a step on Michael Ojemudia, Fields hit Scott in stride, and Scott had no trouble reeling in the ball for a score. The second was a pass from P.J. Walker during 11-on-11 drills. Scott ran past Jaylon Jones this time, Walker delivered another great ball, and Scott once again made the catch in stride for a touchdown.
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“He's a tough dude that works really hard and when you have talent and you have those two things, really good things are going to happen,” said offensive coordinator Luke Getsy. “I think he's a guy who's putting that on display.”
Getsy also clarified that they haven’t put a ton on Scott’s plate yet. They haven’t moved him around too much, since he didn’t do much of that in college. He’s still made some mistakes with alignment. But the coaches like how he’s approached training camp and won’t put a ceiling on where he can go in the offense.
DARNELL MOONEY AND CHASE CLAYPOOL SHAKING OFF RUST
Chicago Bears
Both Mooney and Claypool dealt with injuries in the early portion of the summer program: Mooney was rehabbing from ankle surgery and Claypool was sidelined with soft tissue issues. Claypool has been full go at practice so far, but Mooney has been a limited participant. Mooney is taking reps in individual drills and 7-on-7s, but we’ve yet to see him in 11-on-11s.
Each man is still finding their groove at practice. Mooney has made a few catches when he’s on the field, but he hasn’t created the type of consistent separation we’re used to seeing from him. There have been uncharacteristic missed connections between him and Fields and a couple balls bouncing off his hands, too. Claypool made a great catch in 1-on-1s when he juked Jaylon Jones, then made a lunging grab on a ball thrown to his side. He had a touchdown on Wednesday, too. Beyond that, there have been bobbles, drops and apparent miscommunications.
It’s not time to panic on either of these guys yet, since they’re still getting their sea legs, but it’s something we’ll continue to monitor.
KYLER GORDON BLOWS UP SCREEN
For the most part, Fields and the offense have gotten the better of the defense. That can change when the pads come on and the pass rushers can up their intensity. However, Gordon made one splash play to give the defense something to cheer about on the sidelines. The Bears tried to work a screen pass to D'Onta Foreman in one 11-on-11 set, but Gordon sniffed it out and blew up the play around the line of scrimmage. Again, this could've looked differently with pads on since Foreman is much bigger than Gordon and would've had a chance to break away with some physicality. But at this stage of the summer count this as a point for Gordon and the D.
