Bears Report Card for Offseason Practices

There are grades for the draft, for free agency, for games, for seasons, and even grades for midseason.

So why no grades for offseason work?

Why should the rush to judgment be confined to draft decisions, spending money and playing games? The Bears and NFL work hard in the offseason and deserve to have immediate judgment rushed for their efforts just like in other areas.

The offseason work by players started in April with conditioning, and media gets no glimpse of this beyond what teams themselves might put on social media. Players also must condition themselves during this time.

Then they went through the ramping up phase to actual on-field work without pads in OTAs and minicamps.

Here's how they graded out in offseason player work based on several key categories.

Attendance: A-

They actually fared better here than last year in Eberflus' first season, when you'd think players would feel a sense of urgency to be at voluntary work in order to impress new coaches. No one missed mandatory minicamp unless they were injured. They had a few early absences at voluntary work from Nate Davis and Jaylon Johnson but those players reported for duty later. Personal absences were limited, at least on the days they allowed media to see the work being done. Johnson's reason for missing the start of OTAs seemed rather sketchy. Using your status as a parent—unless the baby is being born—doesn't seem valid considering plenty of players have children and try not to miss workouts. It's called scheduling. Availability is the best ability and almost all of the Bears were always available.

Coaching Impact: A

This might be where the Bears stood out most in the offseason. Coaches changed up the way they worked from last year in order to be more effective. They went to what almost was a scaled-down or slow-motion approach to practicing running plays so a new defensive line and an offensive line with new starters at four positions could get acclimated to the offensive and defensive schemes. Last year taught them the need for something like this. They split the first team and second team and ran plays on both sides of the field at once to maximize their time. At the outset, Eberflus said they were going to work more at the passing game in the offseason than they had the previous year. Working too much on the running game in offseason makes less sense because there is no contact in blocking or tackling. The red zone is another particular area of focus they had. It's where scoring is done, and they said they need more points. The entire team was new last year to the Luke Getsy offense and Eberflus' defensive scheme but their approach was much less player friendly then than this offseason.

Another area of commendation for Bears coaches is how virtually no pressure in media is exerted on players to be at these practices. They constantly emphasized how the work is voluntary, even if everyone knows that's voluntary with a wink. Johnson and Jones weren't berated or hung out to dry for their absences and coaches say they understood situations.

Conditioning Aspect: B+

More than anything else, players need to stay healthy through the offseason work. Last year they didn't escape pretend football without a major injury. Guard Dakota Dozier went out for the year with a knee injury in non-contact drills. This year they didn't have that type of disaster. The soft-tissue injury to Chase Claypool was a hinderance but they didn't exacerbate it by putting him back out on the field for practice. So he is expected back by coaches for training camp. Players who had injuries last year and had been rehabbing them were not rushed into getting on the field. Darnell Mooney and Jack Sanborn simply missed all the off-season work. It's not the end of the season. They'll be ready and healthy when camp starts as a result. Another positive is the emphasis on other types of conditioning to maintain health. Guard Teven Jenkins credits his emphasis on Pilates with helping strengthen his core and back. Other players have used this, as well. Running back Khalil Herbert credits boxing with helping him be physically ready for becoming a better blocker.

Tone-Setting: A

The old saying "the beatings will continue until morale improves," did not apply to this camp. The threats to run everyone and talk about wearing track shoes because the HITS priniciple was being invoked were not made by coaches. There was an upbeat aura about the offseason work and it's probably easily traced back to listening to what players had to say at the end of last season in exit interviews. Bears coaches have not trashed the HITS principle, they just aren't flaunting it as much. Players still hustled throughout practices. It's probably as much the second year and novelty of it wearing off as it is an attempt to keep players focused on the work and not punishment. Eberflus always seems to have a positive attitude but that emphasis seems to have worn off more on players now after a year. What the Bears wanted to do was properly set the stage for the start of training camp. They did.

Final Offseason Work Grade: A-

If training camp goes as swimmingly, the Bears will be well on their way toward getting off to a positive start to the regular season.

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