You wouldn’t know it by the photogs taking pictures for Getty and USA Today, the two outlets we get our pics from, but Chicago Bears fans can’t get enough of rookie defensive tackle Jordan van den Berg. Then again, maybe their photographers assigned to Bears gams and practices aren’t Bears fans. Regardless, these photographers need to step it up, because I have a feeling we’re going to need more van den Berg pics in the Navy and Orange.
For the second week in a row, you guys picked JVDB (or is it
JVB?) as who you’re most looking forward to seeing in this week’s preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Last week against the Cleveland Browns, van den Berg played 28 snaps and had 1 tackle, 1 QB hit, and 3 QB pressures per PFF, but more importantly, he looked the part. He likes the violence of football, and that came through when you watched him play.
There’s plenty of stuff he can work on, but the highs were really nice against the Browns, and you can see what the Bears beat reporters have been talking about with all his training camp flashes.
The left tackle battle took a turn when Ozzy Trapilo was activated off the PUP list, but so far he’s only done individual stuff, so until he’s getting 11-on-11 reps, this job is Braxton Jones’ to lose.
I’m hoping Jones, who was practicing in full this week, will get some work at left tackle on Saturday night against the Bengals, because he needs some live reps after missing much of last year. He and Theo Benedet saw the LT1 reps in their joint practice on Thursday, but Benedet’s pass blocking let him down.
Jedrick Wills Jr. and Kiran Amegadjie rotated at left tackle in last week’s game against the Browns, but neither made a mark, and they’ve started to get reps backing up at right tackle. These two may be battling for one roster spot.
Safety Dillon Thieneman started against the Browns, and he had a tackle in his 15 total snaps. His odds to win Rookie of the Year are still +3300 according to FanDuel Sportsbook, but after being tied with Keldrick Faulk last week for 11th-best odds, Thieneman is now 10th with Faulk at +3500.
If you missed Taylor’s Making Monsters earlier this week, she spoke with Jordan van den Berg’s high school football coach, shared had some interesting insihare.
Check out this quick clip here:
Full podcast here:
Full video here:
