Hitting the road after a wonderful weekend with friends. Tomorrow, we celebrate another trip around the sun. But first: A Sunday installment of BN Bears Bullets.
There are 70 days until the Chicago Bears and Tennessee Titans renew acquaintances in the Week 1 kickoff of the regular season for both teams. Football is coming, friends.
The Bears player currently wearing No. 70 is Braxton Jones, who has been a quality left tackle for each of his first two seasons as a pro. You can’t ask for more from a fifth-round pick in 2022. Jones was a fast-riser who has been a starter since Week 1 of his rookie year and I can see him having a tremendous career if he continues on this path. Sure, his cornhole skills helped score the franchise’s first win against the Packers in forever. But another solid season on the gridiron could get him more than an offseason trophy.
(Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)
In case you missed it: Bears-Titans trash talk is already underway, with Tennessee defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons delivering the first salvo.
Speaking of Bears opponents, Minnesota Vikings Head Coach Kevin O’Connell has nice things to say about the progress of second-year receiver Jordan Addison:
“Jordan Addison had as good of an offseason program as really you can ask for,” O’Connell said, via ESPN. “[He is] a guy that had a ton of success in Year 1. And really, from a standpoint of getting a little stronger, getting a little bit more comfortable playing through contact and still playing with that great burst and transition that he has, you saw some real growth there [this spring].”
Maybe it is easy to say now, but the Bears’ investments in the secondary by General Manager Ryan Poles via the draft (Gordon, Stevenson, Smith, Brisker) and free agency (Byard) are looking like wise ones.
Speaking of secondary members, the Detroit Lions are expecting more from second-year defensive back Brian Branch. Because while Branch was solid, defensive assistant coach Jim O’Neil told the team’s official website that the Alabama product has work to do in camp in order to take the job. For me, it’ll be fun following camp battles around the division.
Jordan Love shows up on Judy Battista’s list of NFL MVP sleeper candidates. No Bears make the cut here. But five players who are opponents on Chicago’s schedule are on it — including four quarterbacks. The idea of two NFC North quarterbacks are being seen as long (but not impossible) shots at winning the NFL’s MVP award reminds me that this is going to be a big year for Matt Eberflus and his defense.
This is what Brandon Aiyuk has to say about his situation with the San Francisco 49ers, via the NFL’s transcription of an interview with The Pivot: “I feel like right now I’m in the right place, in the right spot, with the right quarterback, right now. But we’re not on the right terms.” Given that bit of context, it sure as heck sounds like Aiyuk wants to stay in San Francisco. It sure sounds like a change of tune from when Aiyuk told Jayden Daniels that the 49ers don’t want him. Stay tuned.
I’m just glad the Bears are so set at wide receiver we don’t need to twist ourselves into knots trying to figure out ways for this team to swing a trade for Brandon Aiyuk.
Pro Football Focus offers up two players at each position who will face the hardest schedule in a piece that I’m going to keep bookmarked ahead of fantasy draft season. No players from the Bears make the list, but some players I was planning on targeting pop up. I’ll have to make some tough decisions when we draft in August.
The NFL has canceled the supplemental draft. I’m sorry if that was a thing you were looking forward to this summer. (Pro Football Rumors)
If the NFL has to pay out more than $4 billion as part of the Sunday Ticket lawsuit, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio believes that some owners might have trouble coming up with the estimated $440 million per team to settle the bill. I wonder if teams like the Raiders or Bears, who aren’t known for being flush with cash, are among those who would have issues. The Packers being a publicly-owned team, which means it has to disclose an annual report, might be able to clue us in on how well some of these teams are doing and if they can afford it without any hassle.
Luis C. Medina, who you can find on Twitter at lcm1986, has been covering the Chicago Bears at Bleacher Nation since 2017. Since then, he has written about 3 head coaches, 5 play-callers, and 11 starting quarterbacks. Previously, Luis wrote about the Cubs and MLB at BN (2015-16) and worked in the Chicago Tribune sports department (2011-16). He also co-hosted a Cubs postgame show, Outside the Ivy, in 2019.
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