Robinson, Trevathan set for preseason debuts

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. - In some very good news for the Chicago Bears and Bears fans, several key members of the team will see their first action of the preseason Saturday night in Denver.

When asked if he will play Saturday night, Danny Trevathan never hesitated, and rather than give the usual "You'd have to ask the coach" answer, Trevathan replied, "Yes, more than likely I'll play."

Of course none of the starters are likely to be on the field past the end of the first quarter, but Trevathan has been brought along very slowly thus far in camp with his hamstring injury and clearly the Bears feel good about his progress if they're going to put him on the field against the Broncos.

Equally important, less than one year after having his ACL repaired, Allen Robinson will make his Bears debut at wide receiver.

When asked Wednesday if Robinson will get play, head coach Matt Nagy said, "He'll play a little bit, yep."

There was some thought that Robinson might not get on the field until the regular-season opener, so this is another excellent sign that key Bears on both sides of the ball are rehabbing very well.

As for first round-pick Roquan Smith, Nagy was noncommittal about whether the rookie inside linebacker would see any action, saying, "We're just not there yet."

Has White secured starting job?

It is highly unlikely the Bears will offer anything official on Kevin White's status for the opener in Green Bay for a couple more weeks at least, but any studious observer of practice can see that White is currently locked in with the starters - although there are extenuating circumstances.

The depth chart on the Bears game release this week is unofficial, and it lists White behind Robinson, while Taylor Gabriel is the starter on the other side.

Gabriel missed practice today with a foot problem, after missing time last week with a shoulder issue, and in every drill - whether it required two-WR sets or three wideouts - White and Robinson were out there, with Anthony Miller joining them in the three-WR packages.

White has had an unspectacular, but better than average camp. Most important, he has been available for every practice and appears to have added some quickness and speed the past week or so as he's continued to stack practices.

He has had the occasional drop, but White appears to be gaining confidence, and over the past four or five practices has definitely been a preferred target of Mitch Trubisky.

With Nagy unwilling to announce any decisions yet, and knowing White's history, it's still a bit too early to assume the best, but all signs are now pointing to White being a starter on Sept. 9 in Lambeau Field.

What's next for Grasu?

Lost in all the focus on whether or not Cody Whitehair and James Daniels should be centers or guards is the Bears future of Ryan Pace's very first third-round pick with the Bears, Hroniss Grasu.

If you're not the starting center, you need to be able to play center or guard to dress for an NFL team on Sunday.

Grasu is clearly not in the hunt for the starting center spot, and he demonstrated last season he was badly overmatched at guard.

Daniels also had his issues at guard early in camp, so much so that he has been taking reps strictly at center since last week.

But Nagy has made it clear Whitehair is the starting center for now, so we have to assume Daniels is being prepared to back him up.

Where that leaves Grasu is as a longshot to make the Bears final 53-man roster, and Grasu did himself no favors Wednesday in Denver, double dribbling shotgun snaps to the quarterback on successive plays and three out of five at one point in practice.

Keenum owes Bears big thank you:

Denver's new starting quarterback, Case Keenum was reminded Wednesday after practice that it wasn't until Week Five last season on Monday night in Chicago that his magical 2017 campaign kicked off in earnest.

Keenum came off the Vikings bench with 25 seconds left in the first half and the Vikings trailing 3-2.

He then led Minnesota to a 20-17 victory on three second-half scoring drives and never left the field again for the remainder of the season, guiding the Vikings to the NFC title game and earning a two-year, $36 million deal with the Broncos, including $25 million guaranteed.

In response, Keenum said, "There were so many turning points last year. I don't want to dwell too much on last year, but the second half, to be able to come in as a backup and spark the offense to get going and then never come back out was a fun night.

" 'Monday Night Football,' anytime you get a chance to play on national television, it's fun."