Alaskan Grizzly

Yeah I’ll admit I don’t know the rules of injury protocol to the minutiae but players come back after injuries like this : see Gabriel. If its something like this it’s possible this is a longer term issue; maybe something carried over from college? (Unfortunately CTE isn’t fully diagnosed while you’re alive but the lingering symptoms are evident). Or maybe it’s not something triggered by physical injury and it’s emotional. I think just before he posted that last tweet there was a death in either his family or a close family friend.

I personally wouldn’t mind seeing Bray sooner than later. He had a pretty good showing in this years preseason even though it may have been a more vanilla version of the offense. But then again so far Trubisky hasn’t really grasped anything higher than the ‘101 version’ yet.

I’m still in the corner that this (with Smith) is either an emotional trauma related reaction (like PTSD) or something akin to CTE. Granted CTE seems to be more in line with players who have had years of collisions not someone quite as young as Smith, but CTE is so relatively new in its discovery that its really hard to say the true tendencies. In my very brief reading up on it, the word “emotional lability’ came up. It ...”refers to rapid, often exaggerated changes in mood, where strong emotions or feelings (uncontrollable laughing or crying, or heightened irritability or temper) occur (Queenslandhealth.org). There are emotional triggers that can activate these type symptoms or a severe concussion or two. These sound similar to some of how he was acting a few weeks back at practice. And his general ‘lost’ look while on the field may be a part of it too. I know the first time I heard about this was when I had heard about Junior Seaus diagnosis was determined to be part of his death at an early age. I was amazed at how fast he fell from his playing days. Whatever the case is for Smith, I hope the team takes good care of him.

Someone drank Jobu’s rum. I think what’s happening are a series of unfortunate incidents and they have some bad juju going on; Hicks’ injury, Long on IR (read probably end of career), offense struggles and now because of that defensive struggles. They need a shot in the arm and a lot of this will get better. Sort of like in the movie Major League and Cerrano told Jobu, “fu*k you Jobu, I’ll do it myself” (to get out of their slump). They need a spark to kick this slump they’re in . As someone else said earlier, winning cures a lot a of ills. Another parallel to Major League just occurred to me, anyone think of getting Trubisky some glasses? ?

Tricky predicament for sure. Could be just as bad if he keeps playing and not doing well, then starts hearing the negativity from social media and the like. Probably staying with the team (family) for now is the best thing at the very least. Playing too? Hard to say.

The Chargers are as determined as the Bears to make the playoffs, so says Philip Rivers anyhow. Problem is, believe it or not they are struggling more than the Bears at this point...and have to come to Chicago. I would have said the same thing last week about New Orleans but as you pointed out, 'if they can't beat the depleted Saints' (missing three key starters) well.... Anyhow, Rivers is returning for his 15th(?) season and has been pretty consistent. He's currently at 66.3 completion % (64.6 career) with 11TDs and 6 INTs this year. He seems to 'almost' always pull off a win and like you said, all their losses have been close ones. (Their last win, four games ago, was against an even more miserable team in the Dolphins). The Clemson version of Mike Williams looks to be the 'next man up' with Allen potentially being out. The three year vet is on a similar pace to his last year stats with 23 receptions for 350 yards receiving at 15.2 yards avg BUT so far 0 TDs. Their TE Hunter Henry has been servicable and with our MLB struggle as of late might prove to be a challenge if he goes into that area. Is Gordon playing because his stats show 36 carries for 81 yards so far. And...they have a FB so I suspect with their WR's limited, they will concentrate more on the running game. As you pointed out, their D is struggling. DE Joey Bosa has been giving some teams fits (5 sacks so far this year - I suspect a few more on Sunday) and the other DE Melvin Ingram is 'meh' with 11 tackles and 1 sack. The 'ancient one, 36 year old' Thomas Davis Sr. anchors the LB corps but he's a shell of his former self. And I want to say RCB Casey Hayward is decent or does his name only make me think of "Ironhead' Heyward? My guess is 21-17 or 14 with the Bears pulling out a win.

Struck me as odd to see the Bears practice in orange practice jerseys. That is, the majority of players not just the QBs like is customary. In the photos below it shows Trubiksy in blue which is normally the color of all the offense save the QBs. Probably nothing more than they’re playing in orange ‘home’ jerseys this week and were getting used to it... In other news, I see OLmen Bars and Mustipher highlighted as was new guy DLman Urban. https://www.chicagobears.com/photos/practice-snaps-10-23-19

Saw an article about a strange post Smith put on Twitter. I agree with this author that it might be time to consider sitting him down and let him take care of himself. Somethings definitely not right. https://sportsmockery.com/2019/10/cryptic-tweet-by-roquan-smith-raises-more-mental-health-concerns/

I’d say I was never a fan but it appeared to have worked last year. It’s hard to put a measure on how to be successful with the younger generation and this and a few other tinkers that Nagy was doing seemed to be hitting a chord. But now he’s facing adversity and needs to figure out a way out of the woods. It comes down to him having to make tough decisions at the expense of being everyone’s friend.

Man that is an intriguing question. I don’t think straight up I would; Fangio for Pagano. But if you were to suggest promote Pagano to HC then bring Fangio back for DC, yes I might consider it. It frankly concerns me that Fangio will probably be a DC for another team if not by next year, soon after.

Funny, was thinking very similar thoughts these last few days. Thought that maybe his being too 'family oriented' although not a bad thing makes it difficult to make the tough calls. Like Burton, like Long, like others we (as fans) have seen struggle and wonder why it is they're still on the field playing. With Trubisky its a similar quandry but a tad more complex because not only can he not get him to perform, but he feels obligated to make him good. Both for his own ego/resume and for Pace's viability. As a few of us have pointed out, Pace put quite a bit of his own credibility and draft capital on the line to trade up to get Mitchell. (By the way what was the concern again with SF possibly drafting Trubisky ahead of the Bears that precipitated Pace making that call? And how are they doing these days?). Anyone who has had the opportunity to supervise and lead people knows one of the biggest struggles is making the tough personnel calls. Usually its in the realm of discipline or letting someone know they aren't cut out for the job. Less than more are successful at doing this; it goes against human nature and is difficult to balance while still keeping your respect intact. Which brings me to another thought I had earlier today. Pagano is similar to Nagy in his 'good guy' persona and wonder if the defense's falling off isn't partially due to their being coddled..if only a little? Sure I get the fatigue factor and loss of a player like Hicks but when the defense was run by strict disciplinarians like Fangio and Marinelli they rarely accepted mediocre performance, let alone complete break downs. Don't get me wrong, Pagano is a great coordinator and coach (his record proves that) but maybe there is TOO much of a good thing/vibe going on? I read recently that in the last three losses Mack was nowhere to be found after the game. The media, who he usually doesn't mind jawing with, noted he's become absent after each loss and 'not available' for comment. You'd think a leader on the team should be willing to take the heat in trying times like this, if only to give the pat answers of 'we need to stay focused' and 'we have to move onto next week and get ready for (enter next opponent's name)'. "Club Drub" is an excellent title for this post and to be honest I'd be OK not to ever see another "club dub" again, even if they do win.

Remember seeing this play live and went crazy when I saw Montgomery make it to the second level untouched. My wife said he didn’t have ball and said Trubisky still did (she usually is tricked by plays like this, not this time, it was me - lol). What’s more I watched highlights and again fell for it. Anyhow, agree that it was a well designed play. Trubisky’s inability to do his progressions is killing his ability to succeed. This is where Daniel is better. Maybe can’t throw the deep ball but can read the field.

Great overall post!!!

I’ve never really been set on Pace but Nagy I’m still hoping will figure it out. The thing is I wonder if he weren’t able would you consider to can him before this season ends and put in Pagano? We know he’s had success as a head coach elsewhere. Letting him be interim this year would be better than waiting to see what happens after the season ends and he gets let loose. Problem with it is that Pace will remain; we know how unpopular it is to keep coaches and not GMs...been there done that, no one except me liked it Again that was a total ‘what if’ moment for conversation only and I’m still not given up on this year ... yet.

Problem is, Trubisky can’t hit the deep ball with any consistency or accuracy. I can think of two attempts yesterday where he “tried” and both times the receiver was double and triple covered. In one instance he under-threw the receiver. Adam is better at stat gathering than I but I’d be willing to bet his deep ball (anything 15 yards or more) accuracy or completion rate is pretty low. He wasn’t even able to hit the intermediate passing routes with any consistency, unless the receiver was named Robinson.

Agree on ‘no’ for Kaepernick. He had one decent season...nearly 7 years ago. Disagree with letting Trubisky play the rest of the year. It seems all hope is lost at 3-3 but like some have pointed out this was where the team was this time last year. Right now all the team needs is a rhythm; and that can be had on offense. The piece most needed to change; QB (with a heavier dose of running). It’s probably too late (with the bye week behind us) to make an out of team change but I really think Chase could get this team pointed in the right direction if even he plays as pedestrian as expected. That right now is a whole lot better than what Trubisky is doing. Last night the Eagles and Cowboys were both 3-3 as they squared off to play one another; some had started to write off Dallas, they were saying things like Garrett would get fired and all that. Then Dallas comes out and blows away the Eagles 34-10 and its the Eagles who are suddenly looking lost (Nagys last team and a team only 1 1/2 seasons away from winning a super bowl ... hmm). Anyhow the point being, I believe the team can recover from this. It’s a simple adjustment here or there and grasping hold of some positive mo-jo and things will get better. As Aaron Rodgers once said; “R-E-L-A-X”

Agreed. Who knows maybe he’d be a good option for the Bears offense? I think he’s a bit smarter (and has had a more prolific college career) than our current “Franchise QB”.

Probably not a popular discussion topic but I seriously think Daniel would do better at running the offense for the foreseeable future. He’s more an Alex Smith type player who can manage the game well enough to keep the defense off the field more than Trubisky has. I know he didn’t look all that hot against Oakland but to be fair, no one did (he did help the team come back and lead after the half if that’s worth anything). If he’s able to play his game manager style and give the defense more time to rest, the season isn’t quite lost yet. His ability to manage the offense will allow players like Montgomery (and anyone not named Robinson) a chance to produce. And maybe, just maybe if Trubiksy were to have a Mariota like moment and be benched maybe he’d get a clue...

Was just about to post this idea . Had seen some chatter recently about this. Makes sense. He knows this offense and has done well in it.

Ha!! They just said that this is the first time since 1975 that the Bears haven’t been able to produce more than 300 yards offense through the first five games. You may be into something.

And there is something wrong with Smith. He seems to be a shell of himself. Totally out of position on several of these up the middle run plays.

Agree with you Adam, time to blow the team up again. Trade Mack to someone like SF (he deserves better), dump Trubisky, shit-can Pace and find a GM that doesn’t try to get cute and draft D2 players or 1 year collegiate starters at QB because he’s smarter than everyone else. P-A-T-H-E-T-I-C

Time to sit Trubiksy. There may be some offensive play calling shortfalls on Nagy but half the time the plays where significant gains can be made; they’re being blown by Trubiksy.

Oline doing their job...Trubisky uhm.... And why isn’t the team running more with Montgomery?

9-0 Saints... go offense!!! I was premature but a turnover nevertheless. Ugh...