Cubs News: Eberflus evaluating Williams, Odunze and Bagent |
CHICAGO - Coming off of the Chicago Bears’ third preseason game, there was a lot to like in their 27-3 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.
Rookie quarterback Caleb Williams had another impressive performance and the defense did not allow a touchdown for the second preseason game in a row. “It was a good day, a good learning experience for, really, everybody. I thought that, in spots, we were really good in terms of complementary football. The defense got three turnovers, we scored three times off those - a touchdown and two field goals - and I thought that was really good complementary football,” head coach Matt Eberflus said. “We had a nice punt and pin, and we, again, the defense did a nice job stopping them, getting that midfield … What I thought Caleb did (Saturday) that was really (good) was he had a nice, professional day at quarterbacking. So, it’s not always going to be rosy. You’re not going to make all your completions and make these big chunk plays to start out and so, I saw operation that was good before the snap, in and out of the huddle, really good communicating. Cadence was good. I thought his flow of the game was really nice. I also thought that his disposition when he had a little adversity on the sideline was excellent, him working with the players. Body language, demeanor never changed. He was always in there, just working to the next one and then finally, we got the reverse to Rome and got a big pass and those things … Overall, I thought it was a good day. A lot of learning. We’ll look at the tape and we’ll get better from this. We got a short week coming up. So, it was good to get those guys in there for those amount of plays.” .@CALEBcsw was cherishing that first TD ball 💙 The biggest play of the game came from rookie receiver Rome Odunze, who had a 45-yard reception to help set up Williams’ seven-yard touchdown run. While Odunze had a rookie moment on the very next play with a lack of awareness on the field, he has continued to develop as a player who can make a big difference for Chicago this season. “He’s really fast. He’s got really good speed,” Eberflus said. “He’s got a couple of different gears, and he’s becoming a really good route-runner (and) he can track the deep ball. That’s what he does. That’s what he did in college. That’s what he’s doing here. So, we’re excited about him.” On that 45-yard reception, Williams showed off his athleticism with a throw that is being compared to Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Even though he has also made some mistakes in the preseason thus far, Eberflus says he continues to rise to the challenge and improve as a player. “He always rises to the challenge, and we’ll challenge him again this week to improve on basically everything of quarterbacking that he needs to, and he’s done that,” Eberflus said. “He’s done a really good job of that, and so, we’ll just look at it like that.” With the NFL's unpredictability, it is incredibly important to have confidence in your backup quarterback and feel comfortable putting them in when necessary. Quarterback Tyson Bagent was an undrafted rookie last season. He made four starts for the Bears and won two of those games. His performance puts him in line to be the second-string quarterback this season as well, particularly against the Bengals, as he finished the game with a 151.6 quarterback rating. “He’s a good player. He really is and understands the offense really well, picks up things really well, can chunk a lot of information,” Eberflus said. “He’s a really good rhythm passer. He really can throw on time. You saw that one in cut right there and then the seam ball. You have to have a little touch there (to) be able to place it in the right spot, and (he) did a really nice job with that. So, he’s got all the angles, all the speeds that you need, and he’s a talent.” Defensively, the Bears' defense generated three turnovers and held Cincinnati to only three points. Eberflus would like to see some improvements, particularly on third down. The Bengals were seven for 15 on third-down conversions and won the time-of-possession battle despite the landslide score. However, the run defense was as they held Cincinnati to 82 rushing yards. “I don’t think we did a good enough job on third down (Saturday). I thought we need to do a better job with that,” Eberflus said. “But, we should be getting off the field more than we did (Saturday), so we’ll look at that with a critical eye. But overall, the run defense was solid.” The Chicago Bears will wrap up their preseason on Thurs. Aug. 22 (7:20 /FOX 32 or NFL Network) against the Chiefs before starting their regular season against the Tennessee Titans on Sun. Sept. 8 (Noon / FOX).
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