Matt Eberflus offers an encouraging update on how the offensive line can be at full strength for training camp
With all of the organized team activities and minicamps out of the way in Chicago, the Bears are now officially on break before gearing back up for training camp. During the last four weeks, the Bears have had relatively perfect attendance, but one of the main revolving doors during OTAs and minicamp was on the […]
With all of the organized team activities and minicamps out of the way in Chicago, the Bears are now officially on break before gearing back up for training camp.
During the last four weeks, the Bears have had relatively perfect attendance, but one of the main revolving doors during OTAs and minicamp was on the offensive line.
While everyone was in attendance for minicamp especially, not everyone was on the field and practicing in full. However, that could soon be the case during training camp.
The main players missing on the offensive line during minicamp were right guard Nate Davis and rookie offensive lineman Kiran Amegadjie. Davis has missed practice sessions off and on due to an undisclosed matter while Amegadjie has been rehabbing from a quad injury suffered during his final season at Yale.
Head coach Matt Eberflus said that he projects both players will be back on the field next month at practice following their rehab throughout the rest of the summer.
Having each of those two players back on the field during training camp can help Eberflus and the coaching staff truly evaluate the status of the offensive line and determine what the starting five will look like.
Seeing Amegadjie on the field for the first time will also give everyone an idea of what position(s) the Bears plan on utilizing their third round rookie. So far, Amegadjie has still impressed despite not being able to really get on the field.
"Just the mental side of it. His retention, his ability to spit concepts back, be it protection, blocking schemes, he's been good that way," Eberflus said.
Currently, the Bears already have three positions locked up on the offensive line with Braxton Jones at left tackle, Teven Jenkins at left guard, and Darnell Wright at right tackle. With Amegadjie and Davis back on the field, the team can have a more complete competition for the other two spots on the starting front.
The quicker the Bears can formulate the starting five up-front the better for quarterback Caleb Williams. Williams has already shown some struggles working with his cadence and getting comfortable with his protection before the snap during minicamp, although the struggles were improved upon by the end of minicamp.
"You just have to get the reps and get it right," Eberflus said. "You have to use cadence as a weapon on offense. You can't just go, 'Ready, set, hut' the entire time. So, we got to do double counts, we got to do triple counts, we got to do dummy counts, we got to do silent counts, we got to do all the counts that everybody else has in the NFL."
It's important for Williams to continue practicing these things and building the connection with everyone who will be on the starting lineup and the top backups. Training camp will be the first opportunity that he'll be able to do that with everyone.
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They’ll need to step it up.
