Bear Digest

Bears Winners and Losers from Preseason Victory Over Chiefs

Analysis: Even with a big win and numerous players stepping up, it still wasn't hard to find players who hurt their roster chances or slipped in the preseason Bears finale.

Gene Chamberlain

Brett Rypien on Thursday didn't hurt his chances of being on a roster, either with the Bears or another team.
Brett Rypien on Thursday didn't hurt his chances of being on a roster, either with the Bears or another team. / Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports
In this story:

The Velus Jones experiment captured attention in the second half of Thursday's Bear 34-21 preseason win over Kansas City.

It's safe to say everything didn't work according to plan but to say there isn't promise for the third-round pick to become a Cordarrelle Patterson gadget-type player is selling him short. A 111-yard effort on 13 carries is not easy regardless of wither pre or regular is the suffix to the word "season."

In fact, if Jones had carried it 20 or 25 times, then it might be a different discussion. The purpose of the gadget player is to be a big-play threat, a real danger to the defense if they overload against something else. Jones definitely showed he can unleash his 4.31-second 40-yard speed.

Eventually, he came out a winner in this final exam for non-starters.

"I think he's picked it up well," Bears coach Matt Eberflus said of Jones.

It was only a few weeks ago when Jones started this process of carrying the ball out of the backfield and he has made strides, although he still seems to have a long way to go. A few slow or bad handoffs looked more like his fault than the QBs.

"You know, Chad Morton is his coach," Eberflus said. "I think his coach has done a really good job. (Assistant RB coach) Jennifer (King) has been working with him on the side, too. I think both those guys have done a really good job of partnering with Velus and putting his best foot forward."

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Winners

RB Velus Jones

Plenty of praise came Jones' way after the game, although Eberflus was quick to note the 111-yard effort came also largely because of his blocking. The line and tight ends Tommy Sweeney and Brenden Bates cleared huge paths on the outside several times. But the talent to take it to the house is obvious.

"Really you see some of his explosives," Eberflus said. "He's got good lean mass, he can knock it forward. So he's done some really good things."

WR Tyler Scott

There are many theories on why he was out on the field so late in the game and played 81% of the reps. Was it a good or bad thing for him? It's never bad when you lead a team in receiving with six catches for 99 yards, even in preseason. But were they showcasing him for a trade? Is he in danger of being cut? It actually seemed no more complicated than a numbers game. Keenan Allen, Rome Odunze and DJ Moore weren't dressed. Dante Pettis didn't play. Freddie Swain went on IR and Nsimba Webster was injured earlier in the game. Collin Johnson has been out injured since the Hall of Fame Game. Peter LeBlanc just came back to the team two days ago. That left John Jackson and DeAndre Carter as wide receivers available if Scott didn't play. Some of the plays they used required more than two or three wide receivers. Either way, Scott only helped himself.

DB Reddy Steward

After he had an initial impact in camp, he seemed to fade a bit, but Steward came on strong and finished the right way. He played his zone perfectly on the goal-line interception he made. The other interception had more to do with pass rush pressure in his face but still, Steward waited and fielded the ball well. Several Bears starters would do well to make the catch the way he did and then return it. His problem is the numbers crunch in the Bears secondary but if this is his floor, it could be too high to think he can't have a ceiling higher than some of the backup DBs currently on the roster.

DE Austin Booker

Their fifth-round pick didn't get to finish off the rush like he had in other games but still generated plenty of pressure, both off inside moves and to the outside. Whether he can beat starting tackles so consistently is unlikely but he does get pressure even in practice against Bears starting tackles and did against Cincinnati starter on a wet field at the joint practice they held.Β Β 

DE Daniel Hardy

Not only did Hardy keep up the pressure on QBs, he also displayed more ability against the run. One run broke around his side but other than that play he was solid. In fact, he had a tackle for loss among his four tackles, a total that led all the defensive linemen.

DT Dashaun Mallory

He hadn't done much to date but did make the only sack and was instrumental in keeping the damage down against the run. Maybe the best ability he showed was availability. He was out there playing when Zacch Pickens is out and also made his presence known better than Keith Randolph Jr. and other defensive tackles.

S Jonathan Owens

If Owens is battling for his roster spot with Tavarius Moore, he didn't necessarily win in this one. Moore made plays just like he did. Moore did miss a tackle on a big running play. However, what Owens did well was play special teams with two tackles. No one else seemed to be willing to tackle on kick or punt coverage.

LB Carl Jones Jr.

Didn't show up in other games much but he did make four tackles in this one, and had a special teams stop. With Noah Sewell inactive almost all camp until this game, if he could have shown something a little earlier it might have been a way to win a roster spot. But his one good game could be too little, too late in this case.

QB Brett Rypien

An excellent job of running through his progression and finding receivers all over the field. It will make for a tough job cutting him.

In fact, after the game Eberflus even said he'll have a tough time cutting quarterbacks and might consider keeping three to take advantage of the rule allowing for an extra game-day emergency QB

"That's an important part," Eberflus said of the rule's impact on cuts. "And we feel really good about all of our quarterbacks. They've really put some good tape out there and have really done a nice job.

"I'd keep six or seven if I could, but we'll decide that as we go."

QB Austin Reed

For what it's worth, he showed he's been learning in the QB room as well as Caleb Williams and the other two. His 8-of-10 effort for 63 yards with a TD showed he could be an ideal practice squad player to groom, but you wonder if they would even keep a fourth for practice squad if they had three on the roster.

Losers

WR DeAndre Carter

Only was targeted once for a 6-yard gain and committed a terrible mistake on punt return when he allowed himself to be blocked back into a rolling ball.

"It's a muffed punt," Eberflus said. "That's the rule."

Not enough was seen from Carter's game in preseason or practices. He also had to contend with an injury.

Dante Pettis being given the night off when they were short on wide receivers probably said more about Carter's roster chances than the mistake on special teams did.

RB Travis Homer

A 13-yard rushing effort on four carries, a dropped pass and another incompletion his way didn't say much for his chances of beating out Velus Jones Jr. or Ian Wheeler.

T Larry Borom

The injury he suffered after his 10 plays was the last thing he needed considering all the competition he has now. Kiran Amegadjie didn't play but Aviante Collins did and performed well despite a penalty. Matt Pryor even got reps at tackle in this one. None of that can help out Borom, who didn't have a bad game before being hurt. But the injury now is never a good thing.

CB Greg Stroman Jr.

He played 65% of the the snaps (36 plays), so they needed to see something from him. And when Reddy Steward made two big interceptions and Stroman didn't have a big impact it made a quiet night (2 tackles) all the worse.

LB Noah Sewell

He got in 19 plays for one tackle after being inactive throughout training camp. Last year he didn't do enough to build up his resume. With Carl Jones, Micah Baskerville and Amen Ogbongbemiga all making more tackles after they were available, it makes his status uncertain heading to roster cuts.

WR John Jackson

He didn't do much as a receiver, making 9 yards on two receptions for three targets. With all the other receiver problems they were having, it was a chance for him to come up big and he didn't.

RB Ian Wheeler

This would have been an excellent game to be showcased in the second half but his injured knee let Jones get all of the carries.

DE Dominique Robinson

With 16 plays and a start, he had one tackle and nothing else to show for it. So it was much like his regular-season games the last two years.

Twitter: BearsOnSI

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.