Arkush: Bears play sloppy, but it's hard to judge with starters out

CANTON, Ohio - It's really hard to dig too deep on what the Bears did or didn't do in their 17-16 exhibition loss to the Baltimore Ravens in the Hall Of Fame game Thursday night without some definitive clarity on what exactly they hoped to accomplish.

We get why players like Mitch Trubisky, Jordan Howard, Allen Robinson, Kyle Long, Akiem Hicks, Kyle Fuller, Prince Amukamara and a number of the other starters never saw the field.

There was far more to lose by risking injuries than there was to gain this early in the preseason.

But wouldn't it have made sense to see what Kevin White - who appears to be completely healthy in Bourbonnais - could do at full speed in game conditions?

Seventh-round pick Javon Wims played the whole game and played well, but second-rounder Anthony Miller, who has appeared close to 100 percent healthy in camp, didn't get a snap.

Adrian Amos and Jonathan Bullard are new starters as much by default as by deed, and you would have thought a series or two might have been worth the investment.

None of this is worrisome, and there is plenty of time left in the preseason for those players and others to earn their bones.

But since they weren't there tonight, we have to be really careful about reading too much into what we saw from a bunch of Bears whose best hope is the practice squad playing against a bunch of Ravens who are unlikely to play in the league either.

That said, two players made themselves a story for at least the next week or two if not longer, and a few others forced us to start watching them more closely in Bourbonnais.

The biggest question surrounding the Bears' defense this year is where they will find enough pass rush, and outside linebacker Isaiah Irving showed up early and often in Canton.

Irving is another one of Ryan Pace's undrafted rookie free agent finds, signed last year, axed in the final cut, added to the practice squad and then activated in early October.

In seven games, Irving flashed occasionally before injuring a knee in late November and finishing the season on IR.

At 6-3, 256, he has great natural size to be an edge-bending, 3-4 pass rusher and he showed a great get off vs. the Ravens, notching one sack, having a second nullified by his own offsides and also making a tackle for loss.

The Bears will carry at least four OLBs, and Leonard Floyd and Sam Acho are the only two assured of spots.