LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- The Bears' offense has been up and down all of training camp. They looked crisp to open camp but struggled to move the ball when the pads first came on. A couple of sharper days followed, but Thursday's practice was ugly, especially up front.
Still missing starting right guard Nate Davis and Lucas Patrick, the Bears' first-team offensive line of Braxton Jones, Teven Jenkins, Cody Whitehair, Ja'Tyre Carter, and Darnell Wright struggled to give quarterback Justin Fields any time to throw.
A move-the-ball period in the middle of practice served as a glaring example of how far the Bears' offensive line has to go entering preseason play.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Chicago sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Fields and the offense started at their own 25-yard line.
On first down, the Bears set up a tight end screen to Marcedes Lewis. The Bears executed the play perfectly, and the veteran tight end rumbled for around 20 yards. However, the offense was flagged for an illegal shift on the play, which negated an otherwise well-run screen.
A 5-yard run by Khalil Herbert and a 5-yard pass to Robert Tonyan set up a manageable third-and-5, but that's when the cracks in the offensive line started to get exposed.
On third-and-5, the newly-signed Yannick Ngakoue ripped past left tackle Braxton Jones to pressure Fields. The Bears left the offense playthrough the rep, but Fields' pass for Tonyan fell incomplete.
Head coach Matt Eberflus was extremely animated after the rep, signaling that the defense committed a penalty to give the offense a free first down.
A first-down zone read saw Fields pick up 5 on the ground. On second-and-5, linebacker Noah Sewell came free on a blitz to "sack" fields. The rookie flew into the backfield and started screaming and flexing as he ran behind Fields. The Bears once again allowed the offense to play through the sack, and Fields completed a short pass for 2 yards.
On third-and-3, Rasheem Green roasted Darnell Wright to put immediate pressure on Fields. The third-year quarterback felt the pressure -- likely would have been sacked -- and lofted a pass down the right side toward Equanimeous St. Brown. The pass fell incomplete, but cornerback Kyler Gordon was flagged for defensive holding, giving the offense another free first down. Gordon didn't like the call and pleaded his case to the official along with cornerbacks coach Jon Hoke.
The next set of downs had to have defensive line coach Travis Smith smiling.
Dominique Robinson batted a screen pass down at the line on first down before Green and Justin Jones notched back-to-back sacks. Green beat Carter on a stunt while Jones got passed Jenkins. While the Green "sack" was counted, the offense played through the Jones pressure and picked up a gain of 9. On fourth-and-5, Robinson beat Jenkins and Jones on a poorly passed-off stunt to notch a "sack."
The next team period was a high red zone period that saw the offense start at the 15-yard line.
Once again, it was nothing to write home about.
The offensive line gave Fields time on first down, but his throw to DJ Moore was a little off-target on a quick slant to the left, and the receiver couldn't haul it in. Andrew Billings and Rasheem Green blew up a second down run by Khalil Herbert, and Green spun passed Wright for a drive-ending "sack."
With the offensive line struggling in pass protection, the Bears' offense focused on the run game in the next team drill.
Even that wasn't successful.
D'Onta Foreman picked up 5 on first down. Robinson blew through the line on a stunt but could not get to Foreman in the backfield. Robinson made up for it on the next play when he blew through the line to stop Foreman for no gain.
On third-and-5, the Bears busted out a wild-cat wrinkle. Foreman took the snap and ran a zone read with Fields. The running back pulled the ball and picked up 4 to set up fourth-and-1. The Bears opted to go for it, but Wright was flagged for a false start, forcing Santos to attempt a 54-yard field goal that he drilled.
The Bears' offense closed the day with one more unsuccessful "get a first down" drill.
Fields opened with an 8-yard pass to Moore, but the final 2 yards proved difficult.
Gervon Dexter batted down a pass at the line on second down, and Robinson beat Jones off the edge on third down, forcing Fields to throw the ball away.
After practice, offensive coordinator Luke Getsy attributed the offense's issues to a slow start after a big reps day Wednesday and the fact that they were "on the ball" a lot more Thursday, making it more difficult on guys in terms of knowing their assignment.
CHICAGO BEARS
Here are more notes from Thursday's practice:
-- Dexter had another great day in pads. On top of the batted ball at the line, he blew up a few run plays and notched at least two "sacks" against the second-team offense.
"I just said it today, that’s a huge dude," backup quarterback P.J. Walker said of Dexter. "Like huge. And for him to just go out there and push the pocket and get the batted down balls he’s getting, he’s a hard dude to throw around, and you can feel his presence in that middle of the field when you’re back there playing quarterback. So for us, that’s huge because I think it starts up front, especially playing quarterback, nobody don’t like to throw around him. So I mean, you have him pushing that pocket, that right there could cause a lot of havoc, and I think it’s going to help the secondary because they’re going to feel like they can go out there and make plays on the football now that you get somebody that can go out there and push that pocket and push that center and that guard all the way into the quarterback."
-- Fellow rookie defenisve lineman Zacch Pickens also had a good day in pads. Pickens has been working exclusively at nose tackle in camp. He blew up a couple of run plays against the second-team offense. On one rep, Pickens bulldozed Dieter Eiselen before "wrapping up" Trestan Ebner.
-- Billings and Sewell continue to have an impressive start to training camp. Getsy pointed to them, along with rookie cornerbacks Tyrique Stevenson and Terell Smith, as the players who have given the offense fits early in camp.
"Noah has had a couple days where he showed up, he stood out," Getsy said. "The young DBs have all kind of showed up. The guys up front – Justin and The Big Dog Billings. All those guys. They have done a really nice job of challenging us upfront, changing the line of scrimmage. The way they have so much movement upfront this camp compared to last camp has been really good for us.”
-- After two days ramping up, Ngakoue got his first reps in team drills Thursday. The veteran played just a few snaps but quickly showed why the Bears wanted to sign him.
At the end of practice, Ngakoue was giving Dexter what looked to be a tutorial on his famous cross-chop move on the sideline. Dexter, Justin Jones, Rasheem Green, and Terrell Lewis have spent time talking with Ngakoue on the sideline between reps.
-- With Tremaine Edmunds still out, linebacker Jack Sanborn took first-team reps at MIKE linebacker while Sewell manned the SAM.
-- After injuring his hamstring Wednesday, wide receiver Chase Claypool did not practice Thursday.
-- St. Brown and Foreman were full participants after exiting practice early Wednesday.
-- Edmunds, Claypool, right guard Nate Davis, safety Jaquan Brisker, defensive end DeMarcus Walker, offensive lineman Lucas Patrick, cornerback Terell Smith, running back Travis Homer, linebacker Dylan Cole, cornerback Josh Blackwell, and quarterback Nathan Peterman.