By Adam Hoge-
LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Everything you need to know Thursday from Halas Hall, including a significant reason why third-string quarterback David Fales was
left on the 53-man roster:
1. Chris Conte has been cleared from his concussion. The safety practiced in full Thursday and “is good to go,” according to head coach Marc Trestman.
Trestman also admitted that Conte’s conditioning is a driving force behind the Bears’ plan to rotate the safeties.
“We’ll see where he is as the game moves along,” Trestman said. “We feel good about the fact we’ve got guys we can move in there. That’s kind of the approach that we’re gonna take.”
So how does Conte feel about his level of conditioning going into Sunday’s game against the Bills?
“Until you get in the game it’s kind of hard to tell,” he said. “But I feel like I’m in good shape and I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”
2. Conte is not expecting love from the fans. Sunday will be the first time he takes the field at Soldier Field since his blown coverage on Randall Cobb in Week 17 cost the Bears’ the NFC North title.
“I don’t plan on having a lot of support, that’s for sure,” he said. “But I’m going to go out there and play football. That’s what my job is and that’s what I’m going to go do.”
At this point, that’s all he can do. And if he intercepts E.J. Manuel on the first play of the game, all will be forgotten.
3. Speaking of conditioning, it might be an issue for right tackle Jordan Mills.
“We’re in the same boat a little bit on the right side of our line,” Trestman said while talking about Conte’s conditioning. “Same thing there. We’ve got a couple of guys there who have missed some time. They’re gonna have to work themselves back into shape and condition. We think they’re pretty good, but there’s nothing like a full game, 70 plays that’s gonna do for each player who hasn’t had many reps during the preseason.”
Mills did not play a single preseason snap, while right guard Kyle Long missed the start of training camp after he was hit with a viral infection. The concern about Long isn’t very high, but Mills’ conditioning might be something to monitor. That said, his offensive coordinator doesn’t seem too concerned about the right tackle.
“I know he missed the games but I feel like what he’s had to practice against and how he’s performed in practice that he’ll be ready and I don’t think we’ll see any ill effects of him not playing in the preseason,” Aaron Kromer said.
4. Mills’ return won’t be an easy one. He’ll see a lot of Bills defensive end Mario Williams, who Trestman knows well from his time at North Carolina State.
“I know the type of person he is,” Trestman said about Williams. “I know the type of player he’s been. He’s a difference-making player, no doubt about it. His size, his length, his speed, athleticism, that’s all part of it. When we look at the Bills’ defense, we know we’ve got to neutralize him.”
5. You can expect to see Santonio Holmes play Sunday.
“We have a plan for him to get in the game,” Kromer said. “We have a plan for him to be part of this offense.”
Holmes is still in the process of acclimating himself to the system, but he’s comfortable enough for the Bears to use him against the Bills.
“He knows the plays,” Kromer said. “It’s the feel of the adjustment that he has to make within the scheme and the quarterback and him being on the same page, so we’ll be ready to put him in and we’ll see how much he plays.”
6. Jay Cutler’s fine tuning will be on display Sunday. The Bears have not been shy about saying they weren’t satisfied with the offense a year ago despite finishing No. 2 in scoring. They expect to be better after working on all the details this offseason.
“Part of this offense is really bringing clarity and definition to drops and the rhythm of these throws and how they play out,” Trestman said. “Not only under center, but in the gun, because there’s differences in drops and the rhythm and the types of drops we take because we’re taking the snap at 4.5 yards instead of under center. So these are all things that with a year under our belts, we feel like we’ve been able to have a little more expertise in those areas. That should help us in our productivity.”
The focus will be on drives not stalling because of a little mistake here or there. Offensively, the Bears feel like they could have won a couple more games last year if they would have just made one or two more plays. Remember, the offense had a chance to ice the game in Week 17 against the Packers. Otherwise, Aaron Rodgers never would have gotten the ball back.
7. Expect the offensive tempo to be the same. The Bears will run some no-huddle at times, but they also don’t want to be predictable. You have to be smart about when you go no-huddle because you don’t want to put yourself defense in a vulnerable position.
“It’s great to say you want to speed it up, but if you go three-and-out, three-and-out, tempo football’s not real good, not from a defensive standpoint,” Trestman said.
8. Fales’ injury might explain why he’s on the 53-man roster. The Bears were happy with Fales’ poise and leadership during the preseason and didn’t want to lose him. But why didn’t they stash him on the practice squad?
One reason might be his right shoulder injury, which is bad enough that Fales hasn’t practiced this week. To get the quarterback on the practice squad, they would have had to waive him first and you can’t waive an injured player without an injury settlement. When you waive a player with an injury settlement, the collective bargaining agreement prevents that team from re-signing the player until six weeks after the agreed upon injury period is over. Meanwhile, that player is free to sign with any other team.
In other words, had the Bears waived Fales last week, they probably would have lost him to another team.
You may recall a similar situation with quarterback Matt Blanchard last year, who the Bears waived/injured after he fractured his hand in the second preseason game. When Blanchard got healthy, he was not eligible to re-sign with the Bears yet and the Panthers signed him to their practice squad instead.
It’s possible the Bears were planning to keep Fales on their 53-man roster anyway, but the injury may have sealed the deal. Of course, if they aren’t afraid of the quarterback getting claimed by another team, they could still waive him once he gets healthy and move him to the practice squad at that point.
9. Jeremy Cain is more than a long snapper. He’s a former linebacker. Granted, he’s a former linebacker for a reason, but people often forget than long snappers have to do more than just snap the ball.
“The guy is more than a snapper, he’s a football player and that certainly helps in terms of not only the snapping, but the blocking and certainly the coverage side of it,” Trestman said.
10. Brian de la Punte (knee) practiced in full Thursday. Fullback Tony Fiammetta (hamstring) was still limited.
As for the Bills, they had a couple of significant newcomers on their injury report. Linebacker Brandon Spikes was limited with a knee injury, although he reportedly returned to practice after a small scare. The more significant injury might be to third-string running back Anthony Dixon, who suffered a hamstring injury. Wide receiver Sammy Watkins (ribs) and cornerback Stephon Gilmore (groin) practiced in full.
Adam Hoge covers the Bears for 87.7 The Game and TheGameChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter at @AdamHoge.
