'They definitely won the day': Bears' offense has a rough day during second padded practice of camp
It was a difficult day for quarterback Justin Fields and the Bears' offense during practice Wednesday at Halas Hall.
"They definitely won the day," Fields said of the defense.
Wednesday marked the Bears' second day of padded practices during training camp. There still remains, of course, plenty of time to clean up the mistakes.
Here's the latest from practice on Wednesday.
Rough day: The Bears offense struggled mightily throughout much of practice Wednesday. During a live period of 11-on-11, the first-team offense had three offensive series against the second-team defense and couldn't manage to get a first down. Fields completed a couple of check downs, but was otherwise unable to push the ball down field.
Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy said he isn't worried.
"We don't play touch football, so I'm OK," Getsy said. "I'm not going to overreact."
Even though the pads are on, the players still don't fully tackle to the ground. So Getsy's point is valid, but the offense still didn't have a good day.
Cornerback Kyler Gordon stood out during another 11-on-11 session. Against the second-team offense, Gordon picked off a pass from backup quarterback PJ Walker that was intended for receiver Velus Jones Jr.
Later, Gordon made back-to-back nice plays against the first-team offense. On the first play he blew up a run for a loss, then he followed it with what would've been a sack against Fields.
The offense rebounded slightly during a two-minute drill late in practice. Fields managed to push the offense down field for a field goal as the clock wound down. Back-to-back nice completions to tight end Cole Kmet kept the chains moving.
"Every practice isn't going to be perfect," Fields said. "It's really good to actually have days like this, just to see how guys respond to a little bit of adversity. I think the guys definitely had more juice at the end of practice. I just want them to have that the whole time."
Tensions run high: Receiver Velus Jones Jr. was ready to take on the entire defense himself. After safety Jaquan Brisker knocked Jones over during one play in 11-on-11, Brisker made sure the offense knew who was winning the day.
Jones took exception. He got up and was pushing and shoving with Brisker and some of the defenders for a moment before his linemen came over and pulled him out of there.
At another point, Getsy was fired up, too. He laid into his offense, trying to inject some energy into his offense.
"That's the natural thing, right?" Getsy said. "When you have two three-and-outs, you have this natural reaction to feel sorry for yourself. I just sensed that the guys weren't running back to the huddle the way they always do and so that's where someone had to step up."
Injury updates: Left guard Teven Jenkins left practice early Wednesday with an apparent injury. Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy said he didn't have any update on Jenkins.
"I saw him run off the field, but I don't know what happened," Getsy said.
Right guard Nate Davis, defensive tackle Justin Jones, defensive end DeMarcus Walker and tight end Chase Allen were not present for practice. Receiver Dante Pettis and running back Roschon Johnson were present but not participating.