Bears putting rough preseason start in rearview mirror
In the wake of their funereal, preseason-opening loss to the Denver Broncos, the Bears couldn't put the 22-0 wreckage in the rearview mirror fast enough.
"We'll be fine," a calm offensive right tackle Bobby Massie said. "There's nothing to worry about, no need to panic or anything. It's the very first preseason game. We'll be OK."
Massie and the first unit allowed Jay Cutler to get sacked twice in the first quarter, and Bears quarterbacks were sacked seven times in all. Fourth-string quarterback Connor Shaw was the only signal-caller to avoid a takedown, but he only dropped back four times while mopping up in the final 6:31.
Shaw was also the Bears' leading rusher, scrambling twice for 14 yards, which is not a good sign for a team that wants to be able to impose its will on the ground. Not counting Shaw, the Bears rushed for 34 yards on 15 attempts (2.3-yard average), with a long gain of 6 yards.
"Obviously, it wasn't very pretty," right guard Kyle Long said. "We've got a lot to work on. Obviously, 7 sacks, we can't have that if we want to win football games."
With three new starters on the offensive line - center Ted Larsen, left guard Cody Whitehair and Massie - it's clearly a work in progress.
"We haven't jelled together," Massie said. "Game speed and practice are two totally different things. There are things technique-wise and mentally we have to correct, and we'll be fine."
In fairness, the Bears' first-team offense played just the first quarter, and the defensive starters played less than that. But the Broncos drove 76 yards for a touchdown on the opening drive, converting on third-and-7 and third-and-8 before the 32-yard TD pass from Mark Sanchez to Demaryius Thomas, which came on third-and-9.
"We could've made more plays and gotten off the field on third downs better," said inside linebacker Danny Trevathan. "That's going to be the key to us getting better; third downs and getting after the quarterback a little more."
Trevathan was in the vicinity of Sanchez on a couple passes, but close doesn't count.
"I was there, but you have to make the play when it's right there," Trevathan said. "That's what we need."
Jerrell Freeman, Trevathan's running mate at inside linebacker, supplied the Bears' only takeaway with a first-quarter interception on a ball that was tipped by cornerback Bryce Callahan.
"He did a good job of reading it and dissecting the play," Trevathan said. "When you hustle, things happen, and that's what we want to do this year: get more turnovers and create more havoc out here."
After Saturday and Sunday practices at Halas Hall, the Bears will practice against the New England Patriots next Monday and Tuesday in Foxborough before the two teams play a Thursday night game at Gillette Stadium.
"That's a pretty good test right out of the blocks, and one we welcome," Bears coach John Fox said. "We get time to get better before we go to Houston (for the regular-season opener against the Texans)."
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