8 takeaways from Day 5 of Bears OTAs

The Chicago Bears returned to Halas Hall for the second week of Organized Team Activities (OTAs), where they continue to adjust to learning their new respective schemes.

Tuesday’s practiced marked the fifth of 10 allotted OTA practices, and Chicago will return to the field Thursday to wrap up the second week of OTAs. They’ll return to the practice field for their final week of OTAs starting June 6 ahead of mandatory minicamp.

There were plenty of storylines from Tuesday’s practice, where tight end Cole Kmet, offensive tackle Teven Jenkins, linebacker Nicholas Morrow and head coach Matt Eberflus met with the media.

Here’s what we learned from the fifth practice of Chicago’s OTAs:

Jaylon Johnson practiced with the second team, but it's nothing to read into

AP Photo/Rick Osentoski

Matt Eberflus revealed that CB1 Jaylon Johnson was working with the second-team defense during the second week of OTAs. But it’s nothing to read into, says Eberflus. It was a conditioning thing for Johnson, who was noticeably absent during the early portion of the offseason program.

With Johnson working with the 2’s, it was rookie Kyler Gordon and Kindle Vildor working with the starting offense. An indication that Vildor could be the top reserve option for Chicago at outside cornerback.

Matt Eberflus is very impressed by Justin Fields' deep ball

AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh

It didn’t take long for receiver Darnell Mooney to praise Justin Fields’ deep ball last summer early in training camp. Now, it’s Eberflus who’s recognizing that Fields has phenomenal deep-ball accuracy.

“Man, he throws a good deep ball,” Eberflus said.

That was on display at times during Fields’ rookie season, but it didn’t feel like Matt Nagy took advantage of that aspect of Fields’ game. Let’s see how Luke Getsy utilizes Fields’ deep-ball accuracy, especially with a few speedsters in Mooney, Byron Pringle and rookie Velus Jones Jr.

Cole Kmet is returning to Tight End U

AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh

Tight end Cole Kmet is coming off an encouraging season where he saw an uptick in production. Now, he’ll be looking to break out in Year 3 in Getsy’s offense.

Kmet revealed that he’ll once again be participating in Tight End University, a summit organized by Kansas City’s Travis Kelce, San Francisco’s George Kittle and former Bear Greg Olsen, where tight ends from around the league gather.

Kmet praised Fields' confidence

AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh

Fields is entering his second season and first as the undisputed QB1 for the Bears. And, already, Kmet has seen improvement in Fields’ confidence.

“Man, he’s confident,” Kmet told reporters. “He’s confident coming in…confident in the huddle, in his calls. Taking initiative with everybody. It’s been fun.”

The Bears are learning a new offense under Getsy, and Kmet revealed that Fields already has a good grasp of the scheme.

“You just feel him in the huddle,” Kmet said. “He’s not just repeating the play, he’s telling you the play, and there’s a difference in that. That gives me confidence as a player out in the field.”

It sounds like Teven Jenkins is locked in at right tackle...as of now

AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh

The Bears tinkered with the offensive line during voluntary minicamp, which found second-year pros Teven Jenkins and Larry Borom flipping positions. Borom served as left tackle while Jenkins returned to his natural role of right tackle.

But it sounds like it could very well be the direction Chicago is leaning on the offensive line. According to Jenkins, his understanding — as of now — is that his position is right tackle.

This is what the Bears current offensive line looks like: Borom (LT), Cody Whitehair (LG), Lucas Patrick (C) and Jenkins (RT) with a glaring hole at right guard, which is being filled by Sam Mustipher.

Fields on the move

Quinn Harris-USA TODAY Sports

We won’t get our first real glimpse of the Bears’ new offense until the preseason — or really Week 1 of the regular season — but it certainly sounds encouraging. A few weeks ago, Eberflus explained that Getsy’s offense was “very quarterback friendly,” which is good news for Fields.

Now, Kmet is teasing what we can expect from this new-look Bears offense — and that’s plenty of Fields on the move.

“Justin is on the move a lot and he’s really good at that,” Kmet told reporters. “…It’s been a lot of fun seeing him on the move.”

While Fields was on the move at times last season, a good part of it was in an attempt to evade the pass rush. Now, the Bears are going to utilize one of Fields’ biggest strengths.

Kyler Gordon and Jaquan Brisker already making an impact

Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

The Bears focused on defense with their top draft selections in cornerback Kyler Gordon and safety Jaquan Brisker in the second round, and the early return has been nothing short of impressive.

Linebacker Nicholas Morrow raved about the new rookies, who worked with the first-team defense this week, and have been even better than advertised when it comes to taking the ball away.

“Turnovers,” Morrow said of his first impressions on Gordon and Brisker. “Kyler’s first day here he had two picks and Jaquan punched a ball out.”

Morrow added that Brisker forced another fumble during Tuesday’s practice.

Eberflus expects Robert Quinn and Al-Quadin Muhammad to be present at veteran minicamp

AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps

Two veterans that have been noticeably absent during the offseason program have been edge rushers Robert Quinn and newcomer Al-Quadin Muhammad. But it’s not really concerning given this is the voluntary portion of the offseason.

Eberflus said he expects both Quinn and Muhammad will be present during veteran minicamp in mid-June.

Quinn is going to have plenty of catching up to do learning a new scheme under Eberflus. Luckily, Muhammad already has experience working in Eberflus’ scheme, which should make for a smooth transition.

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