AZ54

I wanted him to get a little more work in the last game but he ended up with just 8 snaps. However that little bit gave the coaches a glimpse of how well he did his job. Caleb got to see it too which on all the timing stuff we run is important to give the QB some confidence in him. Toss in another week of practice with the 1s.

Been Johnson tells it as he sees it. I was surprised by how complimentary he was of the depth we have at receiver all the way down to guys on the practice squad. He said they’ve been practicing well and have a good understanding of the offense. No names were mentioned but obviously Jahdae Walker is one of them. Are we about to be pleasantly surprised again by one of our backups?

I believe Ryan Poles has a position value model. RB safety and LB are not first round positions unless you absolutely have a blue chip player. Any of those that are blue chip are likely long gone before pick 20+. I just can’t see him valuing any of those players over the DEs or DTs that are likely to be on the board when we pick. I think he keeps doing what he’s done since he’s been here: draft a RB on day 3. Before the draft we’ll know how they feel about Edmund’s and DJack. Hipólyte is going to be a question mark. I expect they will believe they have their top 3 starters and just need to add depth but a stud could easily fall to us in Rd 2.

We'll see with Watson. He might play but also be limited when he does. Whatever his injury is, it is an odd one since he spent a night in a hospital after the game. Is he really going to be ready to take another hit this weekend? Does he have full range of motion on his bad shoulder? I expect Josh Jacobs to do what he always does on the field. https://packerswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/packers/2025/12/17/packers-wr-christian-watson-to-practice-hes-fighting-to-play-vs-bears/87811544007/ Like you, I also expect Luther will play as his injury doesn't sound too serious. Jahdae Walker is going to get a lot of practice reps this week with Caleb. If Pro-Football-Reference is correct he's had a total of 8 offensive snaps with no catches. I hope he's ready.

Pretty good for a backup, and IIRC we've had another backup in Nashon Wright who also earned this award. https://bearswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/bears/2025/12/17/bears-dmarco-jackson-named-nfc-defensive-player-of-week/87811764007/

I feel like the team will want to keep DJ around but there has always been something amiss with him in this offense. From being moved early on to taking snaps in the backfield, which he still does at times, to the poor production and lack of connection with Caleb in the first half of the season. Was DJ not making the right adjustments to his routes earlier in the season? DJ just seems like the most obvious trade candidate. I don't think they do that for a draft pick it would be for a DE/DT that improves the pass rush and I could also see a trade for safety. Safeties are cheap so we'd clear cap space, and adding a good starter gives us more flexibility in the draft. Might get a 3rd or 4th Rd pick tossed in the deal too.

I don’t care if CJGJ is back next year. He doesn’t have the athleticism nor discipline to be a starter. He’s a backup and I’d offer him vet. min if he wants to stick around. One of the things hurting this defense is a lack of speed at safety.

That is true but there was also a lot of sentiment that we should be grabbing one of the RBs in Rd 2. Myself included although I think was more of the mindset there was so much depth that waiting until the 3rd or 4th Rd in that draft would still net us a good RB.

Not heard: I wish the Bears had drafted Quinshon Judkins in the 2nd Rd. In fact he looked rather pedestrian against our Bears. .

I think Dexter and Jarrett are playing well. They’re just not elite players. I feel the same about Sweat. Somewhere on the Dline we need a dude. If not two.

We haven’t played a lot of good teams? Minn Detroit GB Philly Baltimore Wash Pitt. We just put up 31 against the third best defense in the NFL.

Is he making Tremaine Edmund’s expendable this off-season? Best defense grades LB D'Marco Jackson: 93.5 DE Joe Tryon-Shoyinka: 90.4 NCB C.J. Gardner-Johnson: 80.3 DT Chris Williams: 77.7 LB T.J. Edwards: 74.6

The fact he’s the only QB in NFL history to have just 12 INT in his first 1000 passes gives me a ton of confidence we drafted the right QB.

I’ve accepted that we hired a coach who loves explosive plays and who is one of the best at drawing them up. He knows he must effectively run the ball to make that happen but it is just a means to his end goal.

Sure but we don’t have everyone available either. We’ve learned to beat a lot of teams with our backups and we went down to the last seconds with a depleted roster against the Packers. Nobody ever gives the Bears any props for playing with backups. Bear Down. Beat the Packers!