Chicago Bears training camp report for Aug. 16: Fields, offense has good, bad moments vs. Colts in Indy
WESTFIELD, Ind. - The Bears might have a lot of coaches who used to wear Colts blue, but they were firmly behind the blue and orange on Wednesday in Westfield, Indiana.
Head coach Matt Eberflus, who coached in Indianapolis prior to taking the job in Chicago, and the Bears took on the Indianapolis Colts during a joint practice session Wednesday. The two teams will return for another day of joint practices Thursday night.
"I spent 14 years here," said Bears defensive coordinator Alan Williams, a longtime Colts assistant. "Raised a family. So it's always good to come back. But you know what? The Bears are my family now."
Highlights:
The Bears offense had some good moments and bad. Quarterback Justin Fields threw 2 interceptions during team sessions. One tipped off the hands of receiver Equanimeous St. Brown, landing in the arms of Colts safety Nick Cross. The other was a deep toss intended for receiver Darnell Mooney that ended up in the hands of Colts safety Rodney Thomas. Fields had pressure around him in the pocket and may have been hit in the arm on that play.
Later during a team session, Fields completed a deep ball to Velus Jones Jr. and ended up on the ground. The Colts didn't hit him, per se, but the Bears took exception to their QB ending up on the ground.
"There's going to be things where guys trip and fall and touch the quarterback," tight end Cole Kmet said. "Don't touch the quarterback. Everyone gets all crazy about it, so just have to take it for what it is."
Needing a touchdown with just over a minute on the clock in a two-minute drill, Fields and the first-team offense failed to score against the Colts' first-team defense. On a fourth-and-2 with the game on the line, Fields had a pass deflected by Colts cornerback Darius Rush.
During a special teams drill, the Colts took exception to a hard hit from Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson while they were working on punt coverage. That was the closest confrontation that the two teams had, though. No fights broke out.
Jackson's pick:
Safety Eddie Jackson made the highlight play for the defense, picking off Colts rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson during an 11-on-11 session.
"Eddie's just doing what Eddie does, flying around there and making plays and I turn my head and he was flying toward the ball and blew the play up immediately," Bears cornerback Kyler Gordon said.
Later in practice, Jackson had a huge collision with Colts receiver Michael Pittman Jr. Jackson was slow getting up and did not return to the action, although that happened very late in practice.
Taking attendance:
Right guard Nate Davis and defensive end DeMarcus Walker both returned to action in a limited role. Davis played in only one team session.
The following players did not participate: safety Jaquan Brisker, receiver Chase Claypool, running back Trestan Ebner, cornerback Josh Blackwell, linebacker DeMarquis Gates, linebacker Tremaine Edmunds and offensive lineman Lucas Patrick.