Chicago Bears roster risers and fallers after Colts preseason game originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Hardly any Bears starters took the field for their second preseason game of the year. Instead, we mainly saw second and third stringers take on the Colts. While that did not make for the most exciting football game ever played, it did give Bears coaches an opportunity to get a long look at players fighting for a roster spot, and guys jockeying for position on the depth chart. Here’s who helped themselves on Saturday, and who will hope to make a stronger impression when the Bears wrap up their preseason slate next week.
RISERS
D’ONTA FOREMAN
Khalil Herbert stole the show in the team’s first preseason game with his long touchdown scamper on a screen pass. In Week 2 of the preseason, Foreman got to show more of what he can do, working behind the second-team offensive line to boot. He carried the ball three times for 12 yards and added one catch for six yards. Foreman displayed both good strength to power through tacklers and vision to follow blockers. The reception was smooth and something we haven’t seen much of in Foreman’s career. In 43 games, Foreman only has 23 catches for 265 yards and two scores. If Foreman continues to put that pass catching ability on tape, he could carve out a new role for himself on offense.
Not to be outdone, Johnson came into the game after Foreman and picked up right where Foreman left off. Without live tackling in practice it’s been hard for Johnson to put his physical running style on display this summer. He got plenty of chances to show off his tough running with seven carries for 32 yards against the Colts. Johnson showed he’s more than just a guy who’s hard to bring down, though. On several carries he demonstrated veteran-like patience for holes to develop in front of him, then sudden quickness to hit openings quickly as they emerged. Earlier this summer the Bears gave valuable first-team reps to Trestan Ebner and Travis Homer. It will be interesting to see if coaches make Johnson the true No. 3 RB after the game.
The first real surprise of the game was when undrafted free agent Bagent entered the game ahead of Nathan Peterman. That was a change from the first preseason game when Bagent was the last QB off the bench. After the offense sputtered with P.J. Walker at the helm, Bagent gave the team a real spark. He looked sharp and hit some quick completions to get in a groove and made one particularly impressive throw to Nsimba Webster while rolling out to his right. Other highlights included one RPO rep, where he pulled the ball then delivered a strike to Joe Reed for 11 yards, and a quick QB sneak to grab a first down on 3rd-and-1. Bagent capped his big day with a two-yard touchdown run to cap off a 17-play, 97-yard drive. He finished 9-10 for 76 yards, with the rushing touchdown.
FALLERS
Stevenson has been battling Terell Smith for a starting outside cornerback job, and had the opportunity to take a commanding lead in the competition after an impressive preseason debut last week against the Titans. This week Stevenson showed off the same good tackling ability, but had two big minuses. First was an unwise unnecessary roughness flag for throwing Kenyan Drake to the ground after he had already dragged Drake out of bounds. The second was an opportunity to come down with an interception in the endzone. Stevenson did a great job reading the play and putting himself in position to make a splash play, but Stevenson let the ball pass right through his hands which allowed Juwann Winfree to reel in the ball for a touchdown.
Similar to Stevenson’s day, St. Brown had a chance to make some catches with DJ Moore, Darnell Mooney, Chase Claypool and Tyler Scott all on the sidelines. But St. Brown did next to nothing with his opportunity, and didn’t have the best rep the one time the ball came his way. St. Brown ran a curl on a 3rd-and-12 play and didn’t create much separation, if any at all. He still had a chance to make a catch due to his size advantage and Walker hit him, but St. Brown dropped the ball. The Bears have given EQ some first-team reps with other wide receivers hurt, but he’ll need to produce more against second-string players if he wants to work his way back up the depth chart.
