Chicago Bears get final tuneup before Saturday's cuts
With almost every starter getting the night off, Thursday's preseason finale was the last chance for Bears players on the bubble to state their cases.
Twenty-two players must be eliminated from Thursday's 75-man roster by 3 p.m. Saturday.
Offensive right tackle Jordan Mills was the only Bears starter who saw any action in the 24-0 victory over the Cleveland Browns, and Mills only just regained the job he played himself out of earlier in the preseason.
The Bears ended their first preseason under coach John Fox 3-1, while the Browns fell to 1-3.
On defense, Mason Foster, a free-agent pickup from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the top backup at inside linebacker, punctuated a solid training camp with a first-quarter sack among his 4 first-half tackles.
The biggest splash play from the defense came late in the third quarter when sixth-year veteran Sherrod Martin cut in on a Lewis pass and sprinted 25 yards with the interception for the Bears' third TD of the night.
Rookie running back Jeremy Langford, the fourth-round pick from Michigan State, has a spot on the team guaranteed, but he showed why he could see more playing time than most of Matt Forte's backups have in the past.
Midway through the second quarter, Langford showed his exceptional burst on a 34-yard sprint up the middle.
On the very next play, last year's fourth-round pick Ka'Deem Carey ran through a tackle at the line of scrimmage and bounced off two more tacklers for a 16-yard run that was shortened by a holding call on third-round center Hroniss Grasu. Carey, fighting for a roster spot, added runs of 21 and 22 yards in the fourth quarter.
At wide receiver, injuries to the top four on the depth chart have given unknown players unexpected opportunities, which continued Thursday.
The most experienced of the bunch, sixth-year veteran Marc Mariani, had 3 receptions for 32 yards in the first half, including a 19-yard touchdown. Coupled with his value as the steadiest kick returner on the roster, Mariani should be in good shape as a contributor in two phases.
Mariani, who has been through the stress of cutdown day throughout his career, summed up best what players on the bubble will be experiencing over the next day or so.
"It's brutal," he said. "At this point you've done all you can. All the stuff that you can control is out of your hands. You just have to let the dust settle, and things fall where they fall. It's hard. I've been through it every year. I've been on the bubble. Last year I got cut."
With Jay Cutler joining the other starters on the sidelines and top backup Jimmy Clausen out with a concussion, quarterback David Fales got his longest look of the preseason.
An illness that kept him off the practice field during training camp also limited preseason playing time for Fales. Last year's sixth-round pick had thrown just 3 passes in the first three games, but he more than made up for lost time despite getting his first extended playing time in a new offense.
"Just staying in it mentally and having that experience of playing with guys like Jimmy and Jay (really helped) last year," Fales said. "That's helped me pick it up a lot faster. I got to plays (tonight) I would never have gotten to last year because I didn't understand protections."
Early in the third quarter Josh Bellamy worked his way wide open and Fales, rolling right, found him for a 29-yard gain. That set up Fales' perfectly thrown corner route to longshot wideout Ify Umodu. The undrafted rookie from Northern Arizona made a leaping catch and came down barely inbounds for an 11-yard touchdown that put the Bears ahead 14-0.
Fales, who played late into the third quarter, completed 14 of 18 passes for 131 yards, 2 touchdowns, no interceptions and a 134.0 passer rating but isn't guaranteed a roster spot.
"I'm definitely happy," he said. "I think I executed pretty well. I think I (made a statement). I hope so."
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