Chicago Bears: What We've Learned Through Week 1 of Training Camp
The first week of training camp is officially in the books for the Chicago Bears, and the team is preparing for its first preseason game of the year, against the Miami Dolphins on August 13.
Since the team reported to Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Illinois on July 30, many storylines have emerged from John Fox's first training camp as head coach of the Bears.
Who has stood out on offense and defense? Who has stepped up as a leader? Will rookie receiver Kevin White see the field anytime soon?
We address those questions and more as we take a look at what we've learned through Week 1 of Chicago's training camp.
Kyle Long Is Emerging as a Leader
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Pro Bowl guard Kyle Long made headlines recently because of his choice of transportation at training camp, but the former Oregon Duck is quickly starting to emerge as a leader for the Bears.
The Bears struggled through a 5-11 season in 2014, and former head coach Marc Trestman lost control of the locker room, according to kicker Jay Feely on Mad Dog Sports Radio (h/t the Chicago Sun-Times). In addition to Trestman losing control of the locker room, an argument broke out among teammates following the loss to Miami in October, according to Bear Report's Jeremy Stoltz.
The team has moved on from last year's disappointing season, and Long spoke about where the team is heading under Fox, per Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times:
"You can definitely tell that a lot of the walls that have been built, for whatever reason, in the locker room have been knocked down. It’s kind of an open-air environment for a lot of guys. Between upstairs and downstairs, it’s a great relationship between players, coaches, staff, personnel. Everybody’s really cool.
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Long is one of a few players to have spoken up during training camp about last season, and some believe he is ready to take over as a leader in the locker room.
"As Bears search for leaders, two-time Pro Bowler Kyle Long is positioned to step up," tweeted Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune. "Should be fun to watch that evolution."
Leadership is hard to quantify at times, but having the right attitude on the field and in the locker room goes a long with players. Long has not been afraid to talk about the team's struggles last season, and he also realizes how lucky he is to play the game of football professionally.
“In retrospect when I practice in there every day, it’s amazing to be a part of something like this, and you’ve got to really grasp the moment when you have it because your window for football is this big," Long said, relayed by Hub Arkush of Chicago Football.
Long is just 26 years old, but he appears to be turning into one of Chicago's leaders because of the way he carries himself both on and off the field.
John Fox Has Put an Emphasis on Toughness
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The Bears looked lethargic on both sides of the football at times last season, and Fox was brought in to help make the team tougher, both mentally and physically.
Before camp officially began, Fox was excited to see his players in pads.
"Once you put [pads] on, I've always been a firm believer this league is about blocking and tackling," Fox said, according to David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune.
NFL practices rarely feature tackling, but the Bears have not shied away from physicality during the first week of camp.
"The Bears had a live tackling period at the end of practice today," tweeted WGN Radio's Adam Hoge on Monday. "There will be three live periods Saturday at Soldier Field as well."
Fox later explained the team's practice at Soldier Field will have 12 live tackling plays each for the first, second and third strings, according to Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune.
The Bears struggled with tackling last season, particularly against the run, so the emphasis placed on tackling during training camp should help the team on defense in the long run. On the other side of the football, Long noted just how physical the first week of training camp was.
"Very physical first week," he tweeted. "Iron sharpens iron. Love playing for this staff and alongside my teammates."
By tackling early and often in training camp, the Bears are getting themselves one step ahead for when the regular season begins. Not all teams eliminate tackling in training camp, but most teams stay away from it out of fear of injuries.
Tackling during training camp is not going to make Chicago the front-runners to win the NFC North division, but it does prove the team is trying to get tougher.
OLB Pernell McPhee Has Been as Good as Advertised
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The Bears made the move to a 3-4 defense this offseason under new coordinator Vic Fangio, and the team signed outside linebacker Pernell McPhee to a five-year, $38.75 million contract this offseason to anchor the new-look defense.
McPhee was a situational pass-rusher during his four seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, but he registered 92 tackles, 17 sacks and seven pass deflections during that time. According to Pro Football Focus, he finished last season as the second-best outside linebacker with a plus-26.0 overall grade. In 616 snaps (including the playoffs), McPhee recorded 24 quarterback hits and 40 quarterback hurries.
The former Mississippi State standout was stuck behind Elvis Dumervil and Terrell Suggs on Baltimore's depth chart, but he will get a chance to prove himself as a full-time starter in Fangio's system.
Even though he was used sparingly at times in Baltimore, Dumervil praised the young outside linebacker last year.
“As a pure rusher, he’s probably one of the better ones I’ve seen,” said Dumervil, per Ryan Mink of the official Ravens site. “He’s probably got a better finesse game than me. There’s a move that he does that I can’t even attempt to try to do."
McPhee is expected to be a starter at one of the outside linebacker positions this offseason, and he has impressed quarterback Jay Cutler.
"On Bears All Access, Jay Cutler tells [Chicago Bears radio network sideline reporter Zach Zaidman] that Eddie Royal and Pernell McPhee are the top players of camp thus far," tweeted Kevin Fishbain of Chicago Football.
The young outside linebacker has been impressive on the practice fields early on in training camp, and he said he wants teams to fear Chicago's defense this season.
"That's what we're going to do this year: put fear in other teams' offenses," McPhee said, according to Larry Mayer of the team's official site. "When they see us come out there they're going to be like, 'Whoa, these guys are playing, everybody flies to the ball, everybody's being very aggressive.'"
After observing some of Chicago's practices, Bleacher Report's Dan Pompei weighed in on what he saw from McPhee.
"Pernell McPhee continues to look like the real deal," Pompei tweeted. "Ryan Pace might have signed him at just the right time in his career."
If McPhee can impress during the regular season like he has in training camp, Chicago's defense has a chance to be much better than it was between 2013 and 2014.
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OC Adam Gase Is Pleased with Jay Cutler's Progress
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Adjusting to a new offense is never easy, and Cutler is learning his third different offense in four seasons. In January, the Bears hired Adam Gase to be the team's offensive coordinator, and the young coach has been impressed with Cutler.
“His intelligence is way better than what I thought," Gase said, according to Arkush. "His ability to communicate with his teammates is, too, because he’s further ahead than everybody else."
While Gase believes Cutler is doing a good job of picking up the new offense, Cutler admitted it is all still a work in progress.
“It’s not something we’re going to pick up in two or three weeks," Cutler said, per Arkush. "It’s going to take some time and guys have done a really good job on the field and off the field, because if you just do things on the field you’re not going to learn this system as quickly.”
After throwing 18 interceptions and losing six fumbles last season, the aim for Cutler in 2015 will be to limit his turnovers.
“I think he’d be the first one to tell you we’ve got to get better in that area,” Gase said, according to Mayer. “You don’t want to overemphasize it because then everybody starts thinking about it and the next thing you know, you start turning it over.”
The former Vanderbilt quarterback has been impressive at times during practice, and according to Mark Potash of the Chicago Sun-Times, "Cutler has yet to throw an interception in team drills at training camp."
“I think it’s definitely Jay being that much better,” said safety Antrel Rolle on Thursday, per Potash. “His decision-making with the ball has been outstanding. His accuracy has been very good. He doesn’t make many mistakes out there."
For Bears fans, it is good to hear Cutler has played well and not thrown an interception in training camp, but the real test will come in Week 1, when he will square off against the Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field.
Rookie WR Kevin White Remains the Team's Biggest Question Mark
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Most of the buzz surrounding the team since the start of training camp has centered around Kevin White.
"Kevin has a shin injury that we told him to stay off of the last month," said general manager Ryan Pace when camp opened, per Mayer. "We want to kind of have a ramp-up phase in regards to his cardio. So we're going to start him off on PUP to kind of build his cardiovascular endurance."
White has spent training camp observing practice from the sidelines, but Fox admitted the team is being very careful with the seventh overall pick.
“He looks really good,” Fox told 670 AM The Score on Thursday (h/t Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times). "We just don’t want it flare back up, so we’re being very cautious.”
Even though White has been unable to practice, Gase said the young receiver has been working hard in the classroom, relayed by Mayer:
"He studies, he's constantly asking questions in the meetings, [receivers] coach [Mike] Groh does a great job spending time with him.
It's just whenever we have a chance to get him out here we'll see where he is on the field. I feel confident that right now on paper he can tell you everything he's supposed to do. It's just when you get out here and coverages start changing and things start happening fast, it's, 'Where are we at at this point?'
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The Bears do not appear to be worried about White's injury right now, but NFL.com's Ian Rapoport said White could begin the regular season on the PUP list, per Kevin Patra of NFL.com:
"He hasn't done any running on hard ground. [He] has done all his work in a whirlpool as he tries to recover from these shin splints. So he's on PUP now. From my understanding he may not be back anytime soon. Actually, a real chance right now that he will not be ready, will remain on PUP list when the season starts.
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If White is able to run next week and can get on the field at some point during the preseason, none of this will matter. But if his injury lingers into the regular season, the Bears will have a difficult time replacing him on offense in 2015.
Statistical information courtesy of NFL.com unless otherwise noted. Contract information courtesy of Spotrac.
Matt Eurich is a Chicago Bears featured columnist for Bleacher Report and a member of the Pro Football Writers of America.
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