Winners and losers from Bears third preseason game
The Bears offense played more than expected Saturday night in Denver — past the midway point of the second quarter — which was a brilliant idea considering how disjointed it looked in the second preseason game.
QB Mitch Trubisky (9-for-14, 1 TD, 1 interception) and Co. looked much better than they did in their cameo a week earlier, especially the pass catchers. But there is still a lot of work to be done on both sides of the ball, considering the defense allowed 20 points in the first half, and there were a couple injury incidents.
Winners
TE Trey Burton
The Bears spent $32 million on a four-year deal in free agency to make Trey Burton their primary pass-catching tight end, and he showed why Saturday night in Denver. Burton had a fairly quiet training camp, but there's no doubt coach Matt Nagy intends to make him an integral part of the passing game.
Burton caught 3 passes for 38 yards on the Bears' game-opening drive, then snagged a seven-yard TD pass from Mitch Trubisky on the first play of the second quarter to give the Bears a 7-5 lead. Burton had another 10-yard reception negated by an offensive pass interference penalty but finished with four catches for 45 yards.
WR Anthony Miller
The second-round pick from Memphis made Mitch Trubisky look good late in the first quarter, when he made a leaping catch in heavy traffic for a 19-yard gain, and he finished the first half with 3 catches for 33 yards. Miller was one of the stars of training camp, but he had just one catch for minus-1 yard in the first two preseason games. The Bears went to him more against the Broncos, and Miller continued to give strong indications that he will be a major contributor as a rookie.
DE Roy Robertson-Harris
The one-time outside linebacker from Texas-El Paso has grown into a 6-foot-7, 294-pound defensive end, and he has been the team's most consistent pass-rush presence in the preseason. Undrafted in 2016, Robertson-Harris got the Bears' first sack against the Broncos and has one in each of the three preseason games.
Losers
OLT Charles Leno
On the Bears' first drive, with the offense clicking, LT Charles Leno was called for a holding penalty that wiped out a 15-yard Jordan Howard run that would have put the ball on the Broncos' 19-yard line. The Bears came up empty when they eventually had to settle for Cody Parkey's 52-yard FG attempt, which was wide left.
CB Kevin Toliver
The undrafted rookie from LSU flashed early in training camp but then faded. He's a big, physical, athletic corner, but Saturday night he was beaten badly on an inside move by second-round WR Courtland Sutton, who made a 16-yard TD catch from backup QB Chad Kelly look way too easy. Early in the second half, third-team WR Tim Patrick abused Toliver for a 27-yard gain when the cornerback didn't get his head around to prevent a reception on an underthrown ball from Kelly, who was promoted from No. 3 to No. 2 this week ahead of Paxton Lynch.
TE Adam Shaheen and OLB Leonard Floyd
After an impressive performance a week ago, when he caught 3 passes for 53 yards, the 2017 second-round pick from Ashland caught a five-yard pass on the sixth play from scrimmage but suffered an ankle injury and was taken from the field on a cart.
Floyd left the game after he suffered an apparent hand injury when he was cut-blocked by OT Garett Bolles. The severity of the injuries was not immediately known, but if either were lost for any length of time it would be a major setback.
• Bob LeGere is a senior writer at Pro Football Weekly. Follow Bob's Bears reports on Twitter @BobLeGere or @PFWeekly.