At today’s Zoom media press, head coach Matt Nagy spoke about the team’s offensive skill positions and detailed how impressed he was with the Bears rookie wide receiver. Before answering questions, he spoke about the recent news that former Bears player and coach Ron Rivera, currently the head coach of Washington, has been diagnosed with cancer. Nagy said Rivera “is in our thoughts and prayers, along with his family. We all here in Chicago think of him, and we wish him the best. ”
On the injury report, Nagy said tight end Darion Clark, who signed a reserve contract this past offseason, has a shoulder injury and is out for the season. Josh Woods was revealed to have a bodily injury, and although Nagy did not sound worried, he refused to provide a schedule for the injury. The news of the major injury was Akiem Hicks, who missed 11 games in 2019 while battling knee and elbow injuries and sat in on our practice today. Nagy revealed that the injury was minor, related to his quad, and the training staff turned it into a “fat day” because they “want to do nothing less than what it is.”
When asked about Tarik Cohen’s performance in training camp, Nagy stated that he was impressed with how “dedicated” and “coachable” Cohen has been so far, acknowledging that there were “some things we saw last year that we thought he could do better. ” He said the letter-rookie draft picks “are all doing well,” even 7th-round draft picks Arlington Hambright and Lachavious Simmons, who new offensive line coach Juan Castillo feels are already ready for the NFL as opposed to “development.”
In passing, Nagy talks about the benefit of having bigger tight ends to throw. Nagy specifically described Jimmy Graham, rookie Cole Kmet, and former basketball player Demetrius Harris, who are all higher than 6’6 “, Nagy described a higher tight end as an” extremely friendly goal for a quarterback. “In addition to the tight ends where he was impressed when he spoke about his wide receivers, in particular Draftell Mooney of the 5th round Coach Nagy said that Mooney “reminds me a lot of Allen Robinson” in meetings, “asked very good questions.” Nagy said Mooney was “very mediocre for his age.”
Mooney himself also spoke at today’s press conference, giving insight into his offseason workouts, earning respect at practice, and the quarterback league. Sporting an orange WRLDINVSN jersey, and a smile that rarely leaves his face, he described the training camp so far from his perspective. At his trading speed, he proudly declared that it causes defensive backs in practice and gives him extra space when drafting. More light-heartedly, he spoke about his speed rating in the upcoming Madden 21 video game, where he is ranked as the second fastest player on the Bears, ahead of Tarik Cohen. Mooney called the Madden rating “very accurate” and said he “was just done with talking [Cohen] about it in the wardrobe. ‘
In the offseason, Mooney said he worked with Allen Robinson and Javon “Juice” Wims in Tampa, FL. He was taken aback by the Florida weather, saying “Tampa heat is crazy” and said that breathing that kind of wind helped him to train. The upcoming Buccaneers Bears game on October 8 is in Chicago. Mooney described the difficulty in acting against the Bears’ “crazy good” defense in training camp. “We probably have the best defense in the league.”
When asked about the quarterback competition, Mooney said he was impressed with both quarterbacks so far in camp, and not surprisingly, he stated that he sees them in the competition so far on an equal footing. . “I’m just glad I did not have to make the decision.” He explained that the biggest change from college to the NFL comes from left-quarterback Justin McMillan at Tulane to right-back quarterback.
The Bears have two safetys competing for the starting spot against Eddie Jackson, and both spoke to the press today. First, Deon Bush, wearing a blue sweater with the trademark C on his chest, was asked early on about his’skirmishWith tight ends Jimmy Graham on Tuesday, at which point he pleaded guilty. ‘We need to stay in that drill’ and things seemed to be getting emotional. Bush dismissed the possibility of dry drama, calling Graham his ‘brother’ and revealing that the two “the last three years” worked out together, training together. “He praised it for its competitive style of play, saying” we compete in our Miami nature. ”
On the subject of the competition for a starting spot, Bush said he still “had to approach this year like every other year” and prepared “like I tried to be the man.” The difficulty, he said, lay in preparing for an NFL season during a national health crisis where facilities are being shut down. When asked where he trained this offseason, he said he worked in the backyard with his cousin in Miami. The two of them “put back some weight room, had all our running stuff there” and were “picked up right there in the middle of Miami.” He ended up praising his fellow security guard Eddie Jackson, calling him “sensible”, with “great ball skills” and a great teacher. The two have played together since Jackson was drafted in 2017.
After Deon Bush spoke, his competition for the starting safety spot Tashaun Gipson came to it microphone computer screen. Dressed in a white t-shirt with ‘BEARS’ written in font similar to shaker glasses, Gipson opened by praising the ‘elite’ defense he was wearing. He states that the unit is more than his own ‘sky high’ expectations he had when he signed. He described his admiration as he did linebackers as safety runs, his appreciation of being “close and personal” with Kyle Fuller and Khalil Mack, and his respect for how deftly the Bears’ internal defensive lines move. “There’s no reason this defense should not be a top defense in the National Football League.”
Gipson had plenty to say about the Bears’ tight ends, starting with the difficulty of covering Jimmy Graham at the end zone. “He’s still the same Jimmy Graham who makes his hay in the redzone.” At rookie tight end Cole Kmet, Gipson confidently predicted that “he will become a star in this league.” The rookie-tight end is a “bigger boy than you can probably imagine for a boy who can move and run like that,” according to Gipson.
To conclude, he declared that the competition is good for both him and Deon Bush, and he has not lost confidence in competing for a starting spot after starting 104 games already in his career. “I feel like I’m a starter for a week, and I hope Deon feels the same way.”
