Pixote

I remember Booker and Kyle both being full participants when returning from injuries, and neither one suited up for the following game. I hope you're right, but I suspect he will be held out to make sure he is fully ready for contact.

Kaleb Johnson was one of several running backs in the 2025 draft that I hoped the Bears would draft. I'm surprised he has had such a bad start to his career.

Regarding injuries, I just read this on SI.com:

Here we go again. Now you want to make me the bad guy. I am an Admin. I am asked to ensure that Forum Guidelines are followed to create a friendly environment where Bear fans can exchange opinions without being insulted for doing so. I urge you to read the post pinned at the top of the page by Adam and adhere to the rules he stated. Simply stated, Adam suggested in his summary of the rules: I'd prefer not to delete your posts that violate the guidelines. I'd prefer not to issue a ban for violating the guidelines.

No. He did not say that he expects BJ to abandon Caleb. He presented the members of the forum a valid question, and I quote with a cut and paste: Stinger has been very supportive of Caleb and hopes he will continue to progress. All you have to do is read his posts, and it is pretty evident. However, if Caleb fails to show any progress over the course of the following year (the last half of the 2025 season and the first half of the 2026 season), will BJ's faith in Caleb be shaken? Again, a valid question. One that I don't think will have to be answered because I fully expect Caleb to progress. However, it was a "what if" question, not a prediction of failure. AND, yes, even if you disagree with an opinion being stated, you should still show a degree of respect for the person who offered his opinion (even if you think it is stupid). How would you feel if someone called you a moron because they disagreed with an opinion you posted, but they strongly disagreed with? We know the answer to that from the battles waged in the past between you and Stinger when you repeatedly exchanged insults and threats. Everyone on the forum was sick and tired of the exchanges between the two of you. NO MORE!

There is a fun article on The NYTimes/Athletic about the origin of the chant BJ uses in his post-game locker room sessions. Some articles on the site are subscriber-only (a cheap subscription for great articles, IMO). Here is a small clip: (BJ and Chase Rice were teammates on the A.C. Reynolds High School football team.)

I think this article confirms we are looking to improve leadership on our ST. I suspect he will be on the 53 soon. Bears sign Pro Bowl special teamer Jalen Reeves-Maybin to practice squad

There are some similarities between the two when the Bears first drafted them. They both had accuracy issues. They both had to correct their footwork to address those accuracy issues. They both would miss opportunities to hit wide-open receivers. They both had trouble going through their progressions, which led them not to see the wide-open receivers. They both tended to take flight rather than step up in the pocket when the opportunity presented itself. They both tended to hold the ball too long, hesitant to throw even when there was ample opportunity. I could list more similarities, but it is really not necessary. The bottom line is that Caleb is slowly correcting those issues with the help of an outstanding HC and his staff and is proving to be the franchise QB we drafted. It is a slow process. But he is progressing. In contrast, Fields has yet to show any progress in eliminating those issues and will eventually be an overpaid journeyman backup QB. I can't believe a GM/HC hasn't considered converting him to a RB/KR to use the one thing he does exceptionally well.

I'll post this here instead of creating a new thread. It is a feel-good article about BJ & Caleb. A quote from the article on SI.com titled: These stats show how Bears’ new offense has unlocked Caleb Williams

Agree, BUT we need to get players back from injuries FAST. After Pittsburgh (and beating a team coached by Tomlin is never easy), our schedule is brutal with little wiggle room. This is where having a late bye week would have benefited the Bears.

There is no reason to spend a lot of time trying to convince someone they are wrong in their opinion. They have a right to voice their opinion. Let it be. Move on. There is no reason someone cannot have a different opinion without being called a moron. Just because someone doesn't agree with the majority does not reflect on their intelligence or knowledge of football. They have a difference of opinion and shared it. Just that simple.

On nytimes.com/athletic, there's an article with some fun facts. I love this one as it is almost eerie in its timing:

The future of our Left OT does need to be addressed. However, this year we were all into boosting the offense. Mission accomplished. Next year, we need to address our defense's needs with the same aggressiveness. If we do —and succeed— we will have one hellava team. PS - Dump Hightower! I didn't like him when he was hired initially. I was disappointed when BJ brought him back. Enough, already!

I also read an article on SI.com that focused on the Bears' offensive line. It has our OL entering week 10 as the seventh-best unit in the NFL. Mind you, that is with our issues at LOT. 4 out of 5 of our guys are literally kicking ass. The same article had GBP at 10, DET at 12, and MIN at 19. (Couldn't find one updated for entering week 11.)

My guess is Detroit hires Daboll as their OC this offseason. I hope I am wrong. He may have failed as HC (put in a bad position by a bad GM) but he is a very good OC.

I just watched Philadelphia beat Green Bay. NICE! Maybe it is just my prejudiced view, but I was not impressed with either team. They both seemed vulnerable tonight.

I remember when Brian Daboll was making the rounds as the new hot OC ready to make his mark as an HC. He was considered the can't-miss candidate after gaining huge accolades for his work as Buffalo's OC. I was wishing the Bears would hire him.

You're right. I always remember him leaving a man he's covering wide open, usually resulting in a 1st down, big play, or TD. I tend to forget his positive contributions. My bad.

I agree that we need to give DJ time to heal. He's a tough guy and will want to play through his injuries, but we need to force him to sit. Burden is ready to become a starter; however, not because of Zac's performance in the past game, when he dropped 3 of 4 targets. Zacc has been a fantastic player for us in the first half of the season, but he had a terrible game. He will bounce back. Burden needs to be put into the starting lineup simply because he is super talented, and paired with Rome, will be our future pairing for Caleb. We definitely need to find a replacement for Wright. He is a weak link in our secondary.

I just watched another rerun of the Cincy game. Eight lead changes. Unbelievable. After watching this game for the third time, I was still finding myself holding my breath when Flacco threw the final pass (Hail Mary that came up short of the end zone) that was intercepted. During the actual game, the way things had gone, I was expecting him to throw another TD. I hope we win by a comfortable margin this week. We cannot expect miracle finishes to win games. We need to keep from having to pull out games with a hope and a prayer. Sooner or later, the football Gods will not grant our pleas for help.

It would be great if we could reach a point where posts on this forum celebrating accomplishments far outnumber those pointing out failures or offering excuses for poor performance. If BJ can do that in his first year as Bears' HC, it would be amazing.

I might suggest he may never improve on his completion %. With vastly improved coaching, offensive line, and skill players, and after playing 25 games in the NFL, his completion percentage is lower this year than last. However, not all HOF quarterbacks had great accuracy. Brady was at 64.3% for his career, but then again, he is arguably the GOAT. The following list was from a Google AI search. I did some spot checks of the figures, and they seem accurate. Some rounding up or down, but very close or exactly as noted in online references for individual players.

I assume by your comment, you watched tonight's game? Pete Carroll is an idiot. Why in the h*ll did he allow G Smith to return to the field when he could hardly walk? STUPID!!!

If you want the best compensation (draft picks) for your top players, wait until the NFL trade deadline. Teams give up far too much for quality players, hoping it will give them a shot at the playoffs/Super Bowl. We have all agreed that the most successful teams build through the draft. Swapping a 6th for a 7th is just a handshake to make the deal official. We keep our top draft capital, which, with BJ's input, will hopefully result in a quality starter. Was a teammate of K Gordon—a cheap one-year rotational piece to help out our D and ST. Good Deal, IMHO.

To add to our injury issues, not that Dayo was contributing much, but he is lost for the remainder of the year. Bears on edge after loss of another key defender for the year