LAKE FOREST – When the Bears returned to practice Saturday at Halas Hall, a familiar face was waiting for them. One that had yet to take the field in training camp.
Star linebacker Roquan Smith ended his hold-in and participated in individual drills but not team drills.
“Obviously Roquan was out there today, and we were excited, super-excited about that, with him,” head coach Matt Eberflus said after practice. “He did individual today. He’s in a ramp-up phase to get back to action. All along, he’s been conditioning with the strength staff on the side. He’s doing good there. So now we’re just ramping him up to play football. And there’s a process to that. We’re in that process right now.”
Smith spoke to the media after practice and said negotiations have ended, and he plans to play out the remainder of his contract.
While Smith was the headliner Saturday, another member of the defense made the play of the day.
During 11-on-11, nose tackle Khyiris Tonga dropped back into coverage and fooled quarterback Justin Fields. Fields threw the ball right to him, and the defensive tackle rumbled 80 yards back the other way for a pick-six that sent the rest of the defense into a frenzy.
“That happens sometimes,” Eberflus said with a smile. “And it has happened. Trust me. And I thought our guys did a good job blocking. So, on those interceptions we turn those into a return like a punt return. So, everybody has a job to do. So, when you want to score on defense you have to have it orchestrated. So, the guys did an outstanding job of orchestrating that return.”
Besides the pick-six to Tonga, Fields and the first-team offense had a fairly crisp day, especially during a “move the ball” drill that started at the opposition’s 40-yard line.
Fields opened the drill with a pass to David Montgomery for a 2-yard loss, but he followed that with a dart to Darnell Mooney over the middle for a gain of 22. Mooney beat Kyler Gordon on the play. Next, Khalil Herbert picked up 5 on the ground, and then Fields completed a pass to Khari Blasingame for 7 to get down to the 8-yard line.
Two plays later, on second-and-goal from the 7-yard line, Fields got the defensive line to jump and got a free play. He took two quick steps back and threw a jump ball in the end zone for tight end Cole Kmet. Kmet jumped over safety Dane Cruikshank and snagged the ball for a score to win the drill.
Here are other notes from Saturday’s practice:
— Running back Khalil Herbert appeared to injure his ankle during team drills. He hobbled to the sideline and was carted off. Running back Trestan Ebner didn’t practice after suffering an injury in Thursday’s game against the Seahawks.
— Teven Jenkins (RG) and Larry Borom (RT) got all the first-team reps Saturday. Riley Reiff returned to team drills and saw action as the second team left tackle. Eberflus praised Borom for his consistency while noting the second-year tackle has the inside track for the starting job.
“He’s been consistent,” Eberflus said. “He’s been relatively consistent. He’s doing a good job in there. Right now, he’s in that position as a starter. He’s got competition behind him and we’ll see what happens and see if he can sustain that execution all the way through.”
As for Jenkins, Eberflus said he and the Bears’ staff were impressed with his first outing at right guard.
“He did a good job in the game,” Eberflus said. “He played a solid game. You think about that for a second, coming there for a couple of days and then starting in there and on playing. We were impressed. He did a nice job. He did a nice job. Now he’s got to continue to grow at the position. Like everybody else on the team, he’s got a lot to work on. But he had a good first outing in there.
— Rookie safety Jaquan Brisker suffered a hand injury during the preseason opener against the Chiefs. There is no timetable for his return, but the Bears are hopeful he can be back by Week 1.
— The Bears went into their trick play bag to end the day. With 12 seconds left and the ball at the plus 45, offensive coordinator Luke Getsy dialed up the old pitchy-pitchy woo-woo.
Fields threw a quick slant to Mooney, who tossed it back to Equanimeous St. Brown. St. Brown then turned and tossed it back to Fields. The quarterback caught the ball with a caravan of blockers in front of him, allowing him to gallop to the 34 before stepping out of bounds with 0.4 seconds remaining to bring out the field goal team.
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