The Bears are in their second week of training camp.
BOURBONNAIS- While the Bears have made progress in improving their offense, solidifying their defense and acclimating the rookies during training camp, there have been some bumps along the way. That’s because the Bears medical staff has been quite busy over the last few days. On Monday, the day started with offensive tackle Jermon Bushrod straining his right calf muscle. He is still listed as day-to-day and continues to wear a walking boot. Monday ended with the devastating season-ending injury to defensive end Turk McBride.
Since then, other players have also found themselves on the trainers table. Jonathan Scott who had been filling in for Bushrod recently went down with a “minor” knee injury, he is also listed as day-to-day. Then on Wednesday, the Bears linebacking corps felt the injury bug as middle linebacker D.J. Williams was carted off the field with a calf injury of his own. Defensive lineman Jamaal Anderson was also seen with an ice pack on his knee.
Unlike Bushrod and Scott, Williams is listed as week-to-week instead of day-to-day. This means that there is a possibility that Williams could miss the preseason opener at Carolina on August 9th. While the Bears haven’t specified the severity of Williams’ injury, it can be assumed that his injury is worse than Bushrod’s since he was taken off the field on a stretcher.
Without Bushrod and Scott, the Bears have been giving J’Marcus Webb a lot of reps at offensive tackle along with James Brown, Cory Brandon and rookie Jordan Mills. If Bushrod and Scott are unable to go in Carolina, the Bears will have a difficult choice of how to protect the quarterback in the opener ahead of them. But so far it looks like both players could be back in time for kickoff on August 9th. D.J. Williams however is another story… Of course the Bears will have a better idea of how his recovery is going as we head into next week.
Until then, rookie Jon Bostic is practicing with the first team at middle linebacker. While the adjustment from college to the pros has been a bit trying for the second round draft pick, he has done quite well since filling in for Williams. Bostic is still learning the cover-2 defense as he played a cover-3 scheme at the University of Florida. But Bears defensive coordinator Mel Tucker is said to be pleased with how Bostic has adjusted to learning on the job.
If Bostic keeps this up while Williams is out, he could very well start the Carolina game. Perhaps this will be Bostic’s chance to prove that he should be the starter on opening day. But for the moment, that’s neither here nor there as the Bears are just focusing on implementing their new system, improving as a team and staying healthy.
The 2013 Chicago Bears will make their first Solider Field appearance on Saturday at their annual “Family Night” festival. There will be plenty of activities on the Solider Field grounds during the afternoon, followed by the Bears taking the field for practice just after 6pm. This will be a good opportunity for Bears fans to get a look at their team before the season begins.
Follow me on Twitter @GabeSalgado82
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