LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- The Bears practiced for two hours and twenty minutes on Wednesday at Halas Hall, and the defense -- be it the first or second string -- owned almost every moment of the team's second padded practice.
The defense had a day. Quarterback Justin Fields did not. It's not something to hem and haw about. It was a bad day. It happens.
Fields and the Bears' first-team offense were stymied all day by both the first- and second-team units. The tough offensive day culminated in a brutal 7-on-7 drill and a "move the ball" period in which the offense did not pick up a first down.
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Let's start with the 7-on-7 stretch:
On the first rep, Fields looked short left for tight end Robert Tonyan. The pass hit the tight end in the hands but bounced up in the air and was intercepted by rookie cornerback Tyrique Stevenson. Fields' next pass was intended for Chase Claypool over the middle of the field, but it sailed high, grazed off the tip of the receiver's fingers, and was picked off by safety Jaquan Brisker.
Fields tried to bounce back with a deep corner throw to DJ Moore, but the throw was late, allowing cornerback Jaylon Johnson to close on the receiver and bat the ball away. The fourth rep was also not one to remember. Moore broke open down the right sideline, but Fields tried to hit Darnell Mooney on an intermediate crosser instead. Mooney had a step but Fields' throw was wide of the mark and fell incomplete.
That 7-on-7 period was just the appetizer for the Bears' offensive struggles.
Bears Analysis
In a later 11-on-11 period, the Bears' first-team offense had three sets of downs to pick up a first down. They went 0-for-3.
Attempt 1
Fields faked to the back on first down and tried to boot out to the right, but Terrell Lewis read the play perfectly and notched a "sack." A second down handoff to Khalil Herbert picked up a few yards, but the running back dropped a third-down screen pass to give the defense the win.
Attempt 2
Fields opened the drill with a quick pass to Moore, but cornerback Michael Ojemudia quickly downed the receiver after a gain of 1. Herbert got the ball on second down and picked up 5 before being knocked over by center Cody Whitehair which drew a reaction from offensive line coach Chris Morgan.
Fields threw a swing pass to Herbert out of the backfield on third down, but the defense quickly snuffed it out.
Another win for the defense.
Attempt 3
Fields took a shot for Mooney on first down, but the throw drifted inside, and the receiver could not work back to the ball to haul it in.
On second down, Trevis Gipson blew up a run play which caused offensive coordinator Luke Getsy to implore his unit to pick it up. Fields hit Tonyan in the flat on third down, but the defense stopped the tight end short of the marker.
Fields and the offense ended the day on a positive note with a successful two-minute, end-of-half drill.
The Bears' offense started near their own 30 with 1:50 left, two timeouts, and the game tied at 10 in the second quarter.
After a checkdown to Trestan Ebner went nowhere, Fields hit Mooney over the middle for a first down. Two plays later, Fields hit Claypool for a big gain down to the opposing 35, leading the Bears to use one of their timeouts.
After a 7-yard completion to Cole Kmet on first down, Fields avoided pressure on second-and-3, stepped up in the pocket, and hit his tight end for a 17-yard gain down to the 11.
Another 5-yard completion to Kmet had the offense knocking on the doorstep with 16.4 seconds left. But safety A.J. Thomas broke up a second down pass for Kmet, and the defensive line got immediate pressure on Fields on third down to force a throwaway and a field goal attempt.
Fields was the first to admit the offense had a rough day, but the third-year quarterback found some silver linings in Wednesday's struggle.
"Of course, we had a bumpy practice but in two-minute we came back and bounced back and I was proud of the guys for that," Fields said after practice. "Every practice isn’t going to be perfect … It’s really good to actually have days like this, just to see how guys respond to a little bit of adversity. I think the guys definitely had more juice toward the end of practice. I just wanted them to have that the whole time; start off with that same juice. We’ve got to learn from our mistakes and continue to get better.”
Getsy echoed that he likes where the unit is, but it's far from where it needs to be.
"We keep having a mistake here and there, pretty much every play, we probably have a mistake right now that are easily cleaned up," Getsy said Wednesday.
Regarding Wednesday's struggle, Getsy isn't concerned because he knows the offense will be a different beast when it can unleash its physicality.
"We don't play touch football, so I'm OK. I'm not going to overreact," Getsy said. "Shoot, I probably got more emotional than anybody else today. It was touch football. That wasn't real football. We're a physical football team. We run through tackles and all that stuff. I'm not going to get too worked up about that."
Here are more notes from Wednesday's practice:
-- As the defense racked up wins Wednesday, they were quick to let the offense hear about it. And hear about it. And hear about it.
On one 11-on-11 rep, Velus Jones Jr. went across the field but slowed up on his route, causing Brisker to nearly intercept P.J. Walker's pass. The Bears' first-team defense, mainly Brisker and Jaylon Johnson, let Jones know that he let up. The second-year receiver jawed with the defensive backs, leading to some minor pushing and shoving.
Once the two sides were separated, veteran safety Eddie Jackson yelled, "Ya'll soft!" as the two sides retreated.
And the Bears' defense just kept coming.
After an incomplete pass during the second-team offense's failed two-minute drill, Brisker let Getsy know he had his number.
"Stop playing with me. Call something different," Brisker said.
One side had the juice Wednesday, and it was the defense.
-- Second-year cornerback Kyler Gordon had a fantastic practice. He picked off Fields in the first team session on a pass intended for Velus Jones Jr. It was a poor decision by Fields but an excellent play by Gordon.
Gordon also notched a "sack" and blew up a run play when he easily got past Tonyan's attempted block.
-- Claypool continues to show growth in the Bears' offense. He opened the day with a big catch-and-run on a drag route in team drills and hauled in the biggest play of the successful two-minute drill.
-- Terrell Lewis had his way with Darnell Wright and Braxton Jones on Wednesday. On one rep, Lewis used a swift swim move to go right past Jones and "sack" Fields.
-- Dominique Robinson also notched a "sack" when he got past Jones during a team period.
-- Left guard Teven Jenkins left practice early with an athletic trainer. Alex Leatherwood replaced him since Lucas Patrick was in at right guard for the injured Nate Davis. The Bears' thin offensive line is already in a rough spot just one week into camp.
-- DeMarcus Walker, Justin Jones, Jack Sanborn, and Roschon Johnson also did not participate Wednesday.
-- Gervon Dexter and Zacch Pickens had another good day in pads, as did Andrew Billings. Those three interior linemen gave the offense fits Wednesday.
-- Rookie wide receiver Tyler Scott broke Jaylon Johnson's ankles in individual drills with a smooth route.
-- Herbert and D'Onta Foreman continue to split reps with the first-team offense.
-- Tyrique Stevenson and Terell Smith continue to split reps with the first-team defense as they battle for the starting cornerback position.