Bear Digest

HBO's Hard Knocks: Chicago Bears Week 2 Highs and Lows

Analysis: Best and worst of the second installment of Hard Knocks featuring the Bears and Caleb Williams, and although the Bears QB is in it extensively some other moments stood out.

Gene Chamberlain

Hard Knocks picked up its share of endearing moments behind the scenes in Week 2.
Hard Knocks picked up its share of endearing moments behind the scenes in Week 2. / Gene Chamberlain Photo | BearsOnSI
In this story:

In episode 2 of HBO's Hard Knocks, it's safe to say DJ Moore's daughter, Arielle, stole the show.

Whether it was by debating a Buffalo Bills fans over a jersey or in a few other scenes, she broke the cute barometer.

"No Bills jersey, only Bears jersey," she hollers back at a fan who says she should wear a Bills jeresey.

Whether it was asking her father the name of a character in the movie "If," as he was in uniform and at warmups prior to last week's preseason game, or their family trip on an off day to the Museum of Ice Cream, the second episode totally belonged to her.

There were other highs and lows from Week 2 of HBO's Hard Knocks: The Chicago Bears. The lowest might have been how they didn't have the show on Max when it should have been there.

KEEPING AUSTIN BOOKER'S SACKS IN PROPER PERSPECTIVE

FORGOTTEN BEARS EDGE RUSHER MAKES LAST STAND STOPPING THE RUN

GUARD NATE DAVIS AMONG BEARS RETURNING TO PRACTICE

Highs

The work with the mic and the boom for this week's episode was far superior to Week 1 and turned up even more relevant and fun discussion, in addition to Arielle Moore's unfiltered debate with a Bills fan over a jersey.

Percy Harvin II: Velus Jones being moved from receiver to running back and telling someone in practice: "They have me over there with the running backs, like Percy Harvin."

The Bears could only dream this was the case. Jones scored in the game but no one would confuse him with Harvin, who was a natural at the gadget role and did it extensively. Jones' inexperience doing it was obvious during the game's outset, but he did score a touchdown and made a long run. This position move was portrayed as an attempt to make it easier for Jones to find a role with the team and also to try to beat out Ian Wheeler for a roster spot, but this is unclear at the moment. And Travis Homer is also involved in that decision as a back whose forte is receiving.

The Voice: Rome Odunze's singing was featured. And he did it with his clothes on.

Love-Hate Relationship: Wheeler's background as an aspiring med student and his "tough love" relationship with running backs coach Chad Morton was interesting and could have been explored even further. One minute Morton is telling Wheeler he's like Eyor, the sad donkey in Winnie the Pooh, then at another point says, "You look like you got a diaper on or something." During the Bills game scenes they're later celebrating Wheeler's hard running and two touchdowns together.

"It's, like, really tough love at times," Wheeler said to HBO. "The goal is to stick around here, to play football for as long as I can."

Moment of Truth: When assistant GM and Ryan Poles are looking at the practice film from the day and Cunningham identifies the point when Williams has begun to become a real quarterback.

"He looks different today," Cunningham says of Williams.

It was a day when media members and some teammates also said the same thing about practice and the way Williams looked in it. He seemed to have found his rhythm in the attack at that moment.

Puttin on the Hits: Moore yelling "I like football" after running through several tackles was fun but even better were several big contact moments by safety Jonathan Owens, who did his best Doug Plank imitation.

The Lows

Nervous Pervises: An antsy moment when QB Tyson Bagent was gnawing on his fingernails and Williams was fiddling with his beard during meeting time at Halas Hall. Someone should have yelled at them both: "Cut it out!"

Childhood Memories: Williams and Bagent trying to recount their first memory as children and Bagent says it was petting a dolphin when he was 4. Not that any of this is particularly bad but Williams' earlies memory was playing flag football at age 4. Williams recalled how much fun he thought it was running around and playing the game. "If they actually brought flag football to the Olympics I would so want to do it," Williams said.

The problem with this is it actually is going to be an Olympic sport at Los Angeles in 2028. Do the Bears need to worry about losing Williams for 2028 training camp while he plays flag football in the Olympics? Probably not.

Meeting of the Multitude: The meeting when Ryan Poles, Matt Eberflus and coaches are all in one room going over the plan for personnel use in the Bills game. The entire coaching staff appeared to be in there and there were so many coaches that there weren't enough seats for everyone so a bunch of them were just in the background lining the wall.

Something tells me a preseason game personnel plan could do with a few less coaches in the room. And get those guys some chairs, but not by stealing them from the media room. Too many have been taken already from there.

Liev Schreiber's Off Day: Hard Knocks announcer Liev Schreiber gets a couple of razzies for things he said that were ridiculous or just wrong.

Of the Bears rookie receiver Rome Odunze, he says, "Odunze looks like a keeper."

No, yah think? He was the ninth pick of the draft.

The other silly comment was saying edge rusher Austin Booker was hoping to make the team. The Bears wouldn't and don't cut fifth-round picks. He's making the team. And he very well might be their second best pass rusher.

Fly Eagle Fly: Theo Benedet made another appearance even though he is out indefinitely with a bad hamstring injury, and he recounted in a meeting how his singing performance in his eagle underwear during the first episode drew some female reaction. A 40-year-old mother of two told him he had nice legs and another woman told him "her eagle had landed."

Love Island Disaster: Cole Kmet and Austin Reed having a discussion during stretching while cracking up over watching the show "Love Island."

"It's like watching a car wreck," Kmet said. "Like, I've got to watch it."

It's not like watching a car wreck. It's worse, as someone who has only seen a few scenes from it can tell you. A test pattern would be better viewing.

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.